ELECTRIFICATION IN MOTION

As energy networks grow larger and more remote, operators need better ways to see what is happening across them - and to detect problems before they become failures. GE Vernova and Alcatel Submarine Networks are developing the tools to help.
 

With governments and regulators increasingly focused on the resilience of critical energy infrastructures, the ability to monitor and protect these assets has never been more important.

Offshore wind platforms, subsea power links, interconnectors, and remote grid assets are now central to how electricity is generated and delivered. But many of these assets are located far from control rooms, underwater, offshore, or across long distances on land.

For operators, this creates a clear challenge: how do you know what is happening across your infrastructure before a small issue becomes a bigger problem?

To address this challenge, GE Vernova and Alcatel Submarine Networks, known as ASN, a leading player in the submarine cable industry and optical sensing technology, signed a memorandum of understanding on February 2, 2026, to explore long-range monitoring and energy infrastructure analytics services for offshore and onshore power systems.

In simple terms, companies are exploring ways to help operators see more, detect changes earlier, respond with greater confidence, and protect their most critical energy assets. 

From sensing to action: How the technologies come together

ASN brings optical sensing technology that can help detect changes across long-distance infrastructure, including assets that are remote or difficult to access.

GE Vernova brings the digital and operational systems that energy operators use to monitor, control, and manage power networks. This includes Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems, known as SCADA, which help operators monitor and control equipment from a central location. It also includes asset performance management tools and grid integration expertise that help connect different technologies and data sources inside one operating environment. Together, the companies aim to bring ASN’s sensing data into the digital and control systems that power operators already use. This could give customers a clearer, more continuous view of their infrastructure and help them act sooner when something changes

For Johan Bindele, Business Leader, Grid Systems Integration at GE Vernova, the collaboration speaks to a growing priority for energy operators. As energy infrastructure becomes more critical to national economies and daily life, operators need the ability to monitor, detect, and protect these assets in real time. This collaboration positions GE Vernova to support customers not just in building infrastructure, but in keeping it resilient and secure over its full operational life.

“Energy infrastructure is extending further offshore, deeper subsea, and across longer distances than ever before, making monitoring both more complex and more critical,” underlined Marc Genot, ASN Energy Solutions Vice-President. “These assets represent significant, long-term investments. Protecting them requires the ability to detect, localize, and understand events as they happen. Even better, our technology enables the prevention of cable threats by sending alerts to vessels that may pose a risk. At ASN, we bring decades of experience in submarine cable systems and distributed optical sensing to provide real-time insight across critical infrastructure. By combining our sensing capabilities with GE Vernova’s digital and grid expertise, we aim to help operators strengthen resilience, improve operational performance and extend asset life. This collaboration also aims to improve efficiency through earlier detection and more informed decision-making.”

Why operators need better visibility

As electrification grows, power infrastructure is carrying more electricity and supporting more of daily life, industry, and economic activity. Reliability matters more than ever.

At the same time, regular physical inspection of remote, offshore, or subsea assets can be costly, difficult, and sometimes not practical. Better remote monitoring can help operators understand what is happening across their assets and respond faster when conditions change.

Part of a broader commitment

The collaboration also aligns with growing government and regulatory focus on energy infrastructure resilience, including EU and UK policy frameworks that recognize monitoring and protection capabilities as essential to energy security.

For customers operating some of the world’s most important power assets, the need is clear: greater visibility, earlier detection, and stronger resilience over the long term. This collaboration is part of GE Vernova’s work to help meet that need.