Dates:
Competition closes: 16th April 2025, 11 am
Applicants notified: 2nd June 2025
Project start date & duration: Start by 1st September and end by 31st March 2026
Scope – your project must
- Demonstrate/illustrate a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or air pollutants from the maritime transport sector.
- underpin a future demonstration via a meaningful technology/route to market/supply chain innovation
- achieve market potential through a clear strategy for commercialising the technology and the products, demonstrating the potential for significant value to the UK
- include at least one representative end user such as a vessel operator, port or harbour authority: the end user must show clear commitment to the project
- Comprise a team with the necessary expertise & experience to successfully deliver project objectives
Specific Themes (lists not exhaustive)
- Strands 1 & 2: International ferries, vessels >24 m in length, and ammonia solutions are priority areas, however a range of technologies under vessel low & zero emission technologies and infrastructure technologies including offshore solutions are also in scope for these strands.
- Strand 3: maintenance and inspection, port operation improvements, vessel design optimisation, route planning and scheduling efficiency, assurance systems. Additionally, one or more of the following must be a core part of the work; innovative use of data, AI, automated systems, position navigation and timing (PNT), quantum computing, sensing or monitoring solutions, digital twins.
Projects that will not be funded
- Those that focus on increasing efficiency of conventional fossil fuel technologies, on-vessel power generation to reduce GHGs (i.e. wind, solar), marine conservation and ecology, non-methanol biofuels, nuclear technologies, use and production of synthetic fuels (excluding methanol, ammonia, and hydrogen), submarines/submersibles, military applications, or personal watercraft.
Eligibility
- Project must be led by a UK registered business of any size (trusts and ports are treated as businesses)
- Collaborators must be a UK business of any size, RTO, Catapult centre, public sector organisation, charity, not for profit, or academic institution. Non-UK partners are allowed, but will not be funded by Innovate UK, and their costs will count towards total project costs.
- R&D work must be carried out in the UK and project results exploited from UK.
- You cannot use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.
- Subcontractors are allowed from anywhere within the UK
Funding Rates
Total pot: £30Mn. Strand 1) £100k-£2Mn, 2) £75k-£1Mn, and 3) (£75k-£2Mn). You may apply for funding towards eligible project costs of up to:
| Organisation Size | Funding rate |
| Micro/Small | 70% |
| Medium | 60% |
| Large | 50% |
*Research organisations undertaking non-economic activity can share up to 50% of the total eligible project costs for Strand 2 and 3 projects or 30% of the total for Strand 1 projects.
How PNO can support you
The UK team has a strong track record in securing some of the most competitive national and European grants on behalf of its clients, with a full understanding of how a project should be presented to stand the highest chance of success. Each year in the UK alone, we are responsible for the submission of more than 100 funding applications across all sectors and priority areas. Based on this extensive experience, through careful project selection and using key insight into how a project should be best positioned, we consistently achieve success rates that are more than 5 times the typical success rates for UK national schemes and EU programmes.
For further information or to discuss a project idea please contact PNO Consultants
0161 488 3488 | info.uk@pnoconsultants.com | https://www.pnoconsultants.com/uk/
