In a realistic approach to future energy consumption, the effects of sustainable power sources and the effects of growing welfare with increased use of electricity need to be considered. These factors lead to an increased transfer of electric energy over the networks. A dominant part of the energy need will come from expanded large-scale renewable sources. To use them efficiently over Europe, large energy transits between different countries are required. Bottlenecks in the existing infrastructure will be avoided by strengthening the network. For environmental reasons more infrastructure will be built underground. Nuon is studying the HTS technology as a component to solve these challenges. This technology offers a tremendously large power transport capacity as well as the possibility to reduce short circuit currents, making integration of renewables easier. Furthermore, power transport will be possible at lower voltage levels, giving the opportunity to upgrade the existing network while re-using it. This will result in large cost savings while reaching the future energy challenges. In a 6 km backbone structure in Amsterdam Nuon wants to install a 50 kV HTS Triax cable for a significant increase of the transport capacity, while developing its capabilities. Nevertheless several barriers have to be overcome.