Falmouth Bay seabed survey to speed up green energy tests

A patch of seabed in Falmouth Bay has just been mapped in fine detail, and the data could save renewable energy developers a serious amount of time and money.

Ocean Ecology Limited has completed a full geophysical survey of FaBTest, the offshore test site in Falmouth Bay used to trial green energy models and technology. The result is a package of data that should make real-world testing at the site faster and easier to plan.

What the survey picked up

The survey captured the seabed’s topography, make-up, depth, features and texture. That detail can help developers of renewable energy projects work out exactly where and how to deploy their devices.

In June 2026 the Ocean Ecology team worked aboard their survey vessel Seren Las and used Automated Underwater Vehicles to gather the data. The full coverage survey collected multibeam echosounder, sidescan sonar, magnetometer and sub-bottom profile readings.

What FaBTest actually is

FaBTest is a 1.5km area of seabed in Falmouth Bay, sitting about 4.5km off the coast within Falmouth Harbour Authority’s Waters. The Harbour leases it from the Crown Estate so that developers can test devices linked to renewable energy and the equipment that goes with them.

It has been doing that job since 2012. Projects trialled at the site include a pioneering green energy Demonstrator model by Buoyant Production Technologies and SeaThor’s modular marine CableSpring.

Why the data matters

Ocean Ecology’s Head of Projects Sam Holmes said it was good to see the vehicles at work alongside industry partners Falmouth Harbour and Bedrock Ocean.

“We hope that this data will provide potential developers access to key information to help them to plan their real-world tests,” Sam said.

“This information should help to inform device developers of the seabed type present at FaBTest to help design effective anchoring systems and protect environmental features. Up to date information on habitats may also help MMO (Marine Management Organisation) licencing decisions by providing up to date information on habitat locations within the FaBTest site.”

Falmouth Harbour’s Environment Manager Vicki Spooner said the site offers a real-world test bed for technologies the world badly needs.

“We aim to do everything in our power to help speed up the development of these technologies and that’s exactly what Ocean Ecology’s geophysical survey will help to do when it comes to developers planning their tests in future,” Vicki said.

She added that developers will be able to buy the survey data to plan their deployments, saving time and money rather than starting the surveying process from scratch.

What happens next

Ocean Ecology will return to FaBTest later this year to carry out environmental sampling to sit alongside the geophysical survey.

Organisations interested in testing renewable energy projects at the site should contact the Falmouth Harbour team. More on this and the Harbour’s other commercial and environmental work is at www.falmouthharbour.co.uk