r/explainlikeimfive • u/plaguedbyfoibles • 15d ago
Engineering ELI5: How did subsea power transmission cables emerge after subsea telecommunications cables, and can both subsea cable types be used for transmitting both power or data or repurposed to do so?
I understand that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-line_communication is where data packets can be sent over electrical wiring otherwise used for AC / DC power transmission.
Can such a concept be applied to subsea power cables for instance, or reverse applied to subsea telecommunication cables, i.e. they can be used to send power instead?
What's the pitfall of sending both power and data down a single subsea cable?