The rapid planned development of offshore wind projects and estimated increased need for power transfer between European regions, requires efficient transport of power across vast distances. This will require a significant  increase in HVDC links as they offer several advantages over AC for long distance power transfer, and in many cases is the only option. Although extruded cable systems for HVAC have been around for some decades, the experience is not directly transferable to HVDC stresses.

Although rare, a fault in and repair of an offshore HVDC cable can cost as much as EUR 40 millions.

The main objective of AMPRExDC is to determine the main ageing mechanism for in-service stresses in HVDC cables and establish measurable ageing indicators and acceleration factors to enable efficient accelerated testing, more accurate lifetime estimation and enhance the reliability of HVDC extruded cables.