Blog by Simon Eardley, Head of Partnerships and Policy, Mersey Maritime –
In a further drive to support the decarbonisation of the maritime industry, the Government have announced a fifth round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC5). As part of the work of UK SHORE, the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions, a new £1.5 million funding pot will support feasibility studies focused on accelerating the development of ‘green corridors’ on international shipping routes to and from the UK. The intention is that the resource will be used to help develop cleaner journeys for passengers and freight, create new jobs and boost the economy. This latest competition was announced on 5th April 2024 and will focus on routes between the UK, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Ireland.
Rounds of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition will be familiar to many Mersey Maritime members, with previous iterations having seen several successful consortia bids submitted and projects now either well underway or about to commence. Bibby Marine, Expleo and Cammell Laird, for example, have all benefited from the funding available which has been part of the wider £206 million UK SHORE funding announced in March 2022. Crucially, this latest round will also see match funding from Ireland and the Netherlands as the focus will have a very clear international feel to it. Denmark and Norway will also provide their own contributions to projects through access to information and the facilitation of collaboration.
CMDC5 studies will map out infrastructure required along the routes to enable vessels to access green fuels and power charging systems, as well as look at further regulations required to push the industry towards decarbonisation. The intention will be to achieve net zero commitments without imposing additional costs to taxpayers but finding ways to adapt the costs of green fuels and ultimately bring down the costs in the future.
The Mersey Maritime team is keen to help our members get involved with this exciting opportunity should they wish to do so. We stand ready to help facilitate consortia building and help use our extensive network of maritime businesses to good effect in bringing about collaborative partnerships to see what part our region can play in this funding opportunity. As such, as part of our next ‘Technology and Innovation Forum’ on Tuesday 30th April 2024, we have asked James Lovett from Innovate UK to offer a short briefing presentation and answer any questions you might have if you wish to consider getting involved. More details about the TIF and the wider activity planned for this event are available HERE
Further details around the CMDC5 announcement can be found HERE
Innovate UK held a webinar to provide more details around the project scope and criteria for participation on Wednesday 10th April 2024. A link to the webinar recording is available HERE
