Published on: 14 July 2023
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £34 million for innovative clean maritime technologies.
This funding is from The Department for Transport.
- Competition opens: Wednesday 2 August 2023
- Competition closes: Wednesday 27 September 2023 11:00am
The fourth round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC4), which will fund real world demonstrations, pre-deployment trails and feasibility studies of innovative clean maritime solutions between April 2024 – March 2025 has been launched.
There are defined and prioritised themes for this round as follows –
- Domestic green corridors
- International ferries
- Vessels greater than 24 metres in length
- Ammonia solutions
With these themes in mind, it is particularly aimed at the superyacht and passenger vessels sectors, however consideration will be given to sub 24m projects if they are using alternative fuels (battery sub 24m vessels have a very strict scoping, please see below for further details) bringing the leisure marine industry firmly in scope (see below for full details). All applications that are within the scope will be considered equally.
CMDC4 is funded by the UK SHORE programme and builds on three successful previous CMDC rounds, which have to date allocated over £95m of funding to 105 projects across the UK, many of them British Marine members both large and small such as Artemis Technologies, RAD Propulsion, Cockwells, Aqua Superpower, Princess Yachts, EP Barrus and Ecomar Propulsion.
The Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC Round 4 is part of a suite of interventions launched by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE). UK SHORE aims to transform the UK into a global leader in the design and manufacturing of clean maritime technology.
The aim of this competition is to fund real world demonstrations, pre-deployment trials and feasibility studies into clean maritime technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The proposal must focus on clean maritime technology. The project must do one of the following:
- design, develop, test, and deploy technology
- conduct a technical and economic feasibility study
There are opportunities to form partnerships and present a joint demonstration i.e., between boat builder and marina. Innovate UK KTN will be able to advise on this and assist in the process. KTN will also be able to advise on whether a project fits the scope of each strand.
To apply for the funding an organisation will first need to have an Innovation Funding Service (IFS) account which is available here .
The CMDC4 application process is available here and is split into 3 sections:
- Project details
- Application questions
- Finances
This competition is split into 3 strands:
Strand 1
Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 4 – Vessel or Infrastructure demonstrations
The aim of Strand 1 is to fund real world demonstrations of clean maritime technologies in an operational setting. The proposal must develop, test, and deploy novel clean maritime technologies focused on on-vessel technologies, shoreside or offshore infrastructure, including at marinas and harbours. The project must:
- Have total costs between £500,000 and £6 million
- Start by 1 April 2024
- End by 31 March 2025
- Carry out all of its project work in the UK
- Intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
Strand 2
Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 4 – Vessel and Infrastructure combined demonstrations
The aim of Strand 2 is to fund real world demonstrations of clean maritime technologies in an operational setting. The proposal must, develop, test, and deploy novel clean maritime technologies focused on on-vessel technologies and shoreside or offshore infrastructure, including at marinas and harbours. The project must:
- Have total costs between £500,000 and £8 million
- Start by 1 April 2024
- End by 31 March 2025
- Carry out all of its project work in the UK
- Intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
Strand 3
Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 4 – Feasibility studies and pre-deployment trials
The aim of Strand 3 is to fund feasibility studies and pre-deployment testing of clean maritime technologies. For a feasibility study proposal, the project must undertake a technical and economic feasibility study associated with the development and real-world demonstration of on-vessel technologies, infrastructure technologies or both.
For pre-deployment trials, the proposal must design, develop, and test novel clean maritime technologies focused for on-vessel technologies, infrastructure technologies or both. The project must:
- Have total costs between £100,000 and £3 million
- Start by 1 April 2024
- End by 31 March 2025
- Carry out all of its project work in the UK
- Intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
The project can focus on one or more of the following:
Prioritised themes:
- Domestic green corridors
- International ferries
- Vessels greater than 24 metres in length
- Ammonia solutions
Other themes:
- Vessel low and zero emission technologies:
- Vessel propulsion and auxiliary engines, for example: batteries, fuel cells, and internal combustion engines using low or zero carbon alternative fuels such as hydrogen, methanol, ammonia, or multi-fuel combinations
- Wind propulsion, including soft-sail, fixed-sail, rotor, kite, and turbine technologies, targeting a range of ship types from small vessels to large cargo carriers, both as primary and auxiliary propulsion
- Low carbon energy storage and management
- Physical connections to shoreside power or alternative fuels, including fuelling lines
- Enabling technologies such as motors, drives, sensor, and power electronics
- Energy efficiency technologies, where they significantly enhance the vessel range or lower alternative fuel usage to enable the fuel’s viability
Projects developing 100 percent battery electric solutions for vessels less than 24 metres need to show clearly how their project is novel and how it addresses limitations with existing electric vessel solutions.
Infrastructure technologies including offshore solutions:
- Shoreside storage and bunkering of low and zero carbon fuel
- Charging infrastructure and management for electric vessels
- Shore power solutions
- Physical connections to shoreside power or alternative fuels, including fuelling lines
- Shoreside renewable energy generation at the port to supply vessels
- Low carbon fuel production, such as hydrogen, methanol, ammonia
- Zero emission infrastructure, including assets for boat handling and operations within a marina or harbour site
- Zero emission offshore infrastructure for wind, oil and gas farms that support zero or low emission vessels
Projects focused on shore power technology need to show clearly how their project is novel and how it addresses limitations with existing shore power solutions.
The competition submission can have up to 30 pages of detail, excluding company financial data and project impact analysis.
