Bangor University has selected Kongsberg Maritime to supply it with the upward-looking echosounder that will be used for research into the ecology of marine renewable energy development sites.
The upward-looking echosounder will enable the collection of data that will allow for species/faunal group identification, and establish their depth distribution over periods of two weeks and more at the marine renewable energy development sites, said Bangor University, the leader of the Seacams 2 project.
Kongsberg Maritime, part of a Norway-based international technology corporation Kongsberg Group that supplies high-technology systems and solutions for onshore and offshore industries, was awarded the contract on June 1, 2017, according to the Welsh government’s procurement portal Sell2Wales.
The research to be undertaken using the echosounder is part of the Seacams 2 project that was financially backed by the Welsh government with £12 million awarded in September 2016.
The goal of the project is develop a network of coastal observatories that would collect the information relevant to potential renewable energy developers.
The work will focus on information gathering around two Welsh marine renewable energy demonstration zones that lie off the north-west coast of Anglesey, and off the coast of Pembrokeshire.
The project will run until July 2019.