funding opportunities
Analysis from the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult shows that up to 423 service operation vessels (SOVs) could be operating in the offshore wind industry globally by 2050! In partnership with The Crown Estate and the National Shipbuilding Office, the ORE Catapuly recently published a tender to develop the UK SOV Manufacture Business Development Case.
This tender is designed to help address a hugely important topic within the UK offshore wind and maritime industries, to further accelerate the UK’s offshore wind deployment and help drive net zero ambitions.
Click here to learn more and apply: UK SOV Manufacture Business Case Development – ORE/24/101 – Contracts Finder
The Department for Transport announced the latest round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC6) on 16 January 2025. £30 million of new decarbonisation funding will be made available, and is designed to support clean maritime technologies including electric, hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, wind power and more.
Previous rounds of the competition have seen funding delivered to over 300 organisations, bringing in more than £100 million of private investment across the UK, including for businesses here in the Liverpool City Region and wider North West.
Innovate UK (the delivery partner for this funding) opened the sixth round of the CMDC on 24 January. The application window will close on 16 April 2025. An industry briefing was held on 27 January 2025 in London. Slides are now available via the link below and a recording of the event will be made available shortly.
Further details of this funding opportunity are available here: https://iuk-business-connect.org.uk/opportunities/clean-maritime-demonstration-competition-6/
Mersey Maritime held a regional briefing on CMDC6 on 11 February 2025. A copy of the slides from this event are available on request. Please contact: simon.eardley@merseymaritime.co.uk for further information.
Summary
This upcoming international opportunity is funded by the Department for Transport, Innovate UK and Innovate UK Business Growth. An intensive 3-stage GBIP will support 15 ambitious UK companies to get ready for the market, visit the United States to meet the country’s leading innovators and explore innovation collaborations.
The programme is intended for port and infrastructure technology innovators, digital and physical. Applications open w/c 27 January 2025 and close towards the end of February. In-market visit will be at the start of April.
Register to join a briefing event on 07 February here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gbip-usa-maritime-infrastructure-technology-2025-tickets-1219079502609
General information about the programme here: https://iuk-business-connect.org.uk/programme/global-business-innovation/#breadcrumbs
Summary
- UK is fully eligible to take part and be funded by the EU in this scheme as we are an Associated Country.
- Eight competitions, sharing €76m – opening May 2025 for a September 2025 submission deadline
- Scope is not yet published, but a very early draft is available.
- Must be an international consortium of at least three different entities from three different eligible countries.
- Competition scope has been drafted by members of the ZEWT Co-Programmed Partnership – you can join and be part of the team writing next year’s competition and be part of the team that delivers the projects. More details here: https://www.waterborne.eu/partnership/partnership
- Contact: Louise.Mothersole@iuk.ukri.org (Horizon Europe UK National Contact Point for Mobility) for more details.
Connected Places Catapult (CPC) is due to launch a Maritime Project in Liverpool from April 2025 onwards. It is CPC’s aim to build on the Liverpool to Belfast Green Shipping Corridor study by concentrating some effort on enabling future fuel adoption. The objective of this work is to align with maritime decarbonisation priorities in the Liverpool City Region and identify impactful areas to support trials and demonstrations that will accelerate the transition to future fuels. Several of the pilot projects identified as part of the IUK Pulse Green Shipping Corridor work relate to future fuels and therefore there’s an opportunity to support trials and/or demonstrations that best align with regional priorities. CPC would like to identify and scope 2-4 trials or demonstrations by the end of March 2025, to begin delivery in the next financial year.
Contact Kirsty Gouck (Systems Engineer) on kirsty.gouck@cp.catapult.org.uk and Georgina Cruttenden (Systems Engineer) georgina.cruttenden@cp.catapult.org.uk for more information.
LR Foundation have a £15 million funding call that seeks proposals to enhance safety across Safer Maritime Systems, Sustainable Infrastructure & Skilled People for Safer Engineering. More details available here:https://www.lrfoundation.org.uk/news/lloyds-register-foundation-announces-new-ps15-million-funding-call
A brief proposal is required by 10th January 2025 and a full proposal by the 31st January 2025. Connected Places Catapult is interested in supporting a potential partner in addressing a challenge such as safe handling of future fuels or HV electricity in a real-world port environment as examples.
CPC contact to discuss further: Callum Stone (Maritime & Ports Engagement Manager): callum.stone@cp.catapult.org.uk
