Underwater AC cables do actually suffer increased dielectric losses in comparison to those in air. The effects across your garden however are going to be negligible. (For utility scale international submarine interconnects however it becomes more of an issue)
That's because the OP will need to calculate that based on the anticipated/design load in each building.
I think the problem might be mould attacking the PVC.
In American wiring there are two types of cable that look like UK T&E: "NM" (nonmetallic, i.e., PVC sheathed) & "UF" (underground feed, which looks similar except for the "UF" printed on the sheath & has some anti-fungal stuff impregnated in the PVC).
PVC and polyethylene are permeable - there's a reason for the Aluminium in APL sheathed cables.
Cable cooling. 2.5mm^2 T&E immersed in fresh water at 15 deg C 100A continuous :)
It would probably last for years - but don't tell anyone. But the real solution is SWA (and it need not be in ducting).
Either that or you have just reinvented the electric kettle!
Come on - it's water-cooled so that should be 100GHz (3-core a bit feeble though).
I've not heard of it, and it sounds deeply wrong to me! AFAIK you can treat each outbuilding as a bit of the house, with a continuation of the house protective conductor, if it's got no earhed metal work or services, or you can have a properly designed, built and tested TT system in the outbuildings.
Oops!
I think the only thing apart from power would be alarm wiring, but ethernet and/or phone are probably going to be tempting. If I have to use SWA, rather than T&E in ducting, then I may as well put the duct in anyway, alongside the SWA.
I'm now resigned to using SWA, with a parallel duct for other "stuff"
SWA is not particularly difficult to use...
All you need to know is how to make proper terminations at the ends:
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