A one-stop marine mapping and information solution is now being offered to the marine renewables industry by environmental consultants Aquatera and marine geographic information specialists SeaZone. The two companies have joined forces to provide the sector with a combined information system for areas that may be important for future marine renewable projects.

Aquatera has already purchased a considerable amount of data from SeaZone in order to help with the identification of suitable sites for marine renewable devices and other large scale offshore projects and in order to maximise the value of SeaZone’s marine geographic information data Aquatera has developed a software solution to display and combine different data sources. RADMAPP from Aquatera, complete with SeaZone data, has now been adopted by a number of renewable energy companies to further assist in bidding processes for obtaining seabed leases, during Environmental Impact Assessment projects and for the selection of best technology and sites.

"For example, using a combination of RADMAPP and SeaZone’s bathymetry data we can find not only areas of suitable water depth for specific projects but also to define seabed morphology, habitat types as well as whether the sea floor is rocky or sedimentary," commented Duncan Clarke, Environmental Consultant for Orkney based Aquatera. "In addition by pre arming ourselves with the most up to date and comprehensive geographic information for the marine environment and coastal zone from SeaZone ensures we are best prepared to meet our clients needs when they come to use with specific questions or general enquiries."