A total of £1.4 million has been awarded to 10 organisations to develop technology which can help the UK realise its ambitions for zero emission shipping, as set out in its Maritime 2050 strategy.
As previously reported, the UK published its Clean Maritime Plan last year and declared its intention to become the first country in the world to commit to zero emissions in domestic waters by 2050.
Last July, a consortium of UK companies, academia and government established MarRI-UK, which subsequently launched two competitions to foster technological innovation, and the first of these was focused on finding maritime emissions reduction technologies.
The competition closed for entries last October, and at the time the UK’s (now former) Maritime Minister, Nusrat Ghani, said it had been six times over-subscribed, with 55 expressions of interest having been received.
Ten project proposals have now been selected for funding. Announcing the grant awards, Maritime UK said the winners had been selected by independent reviews according to various criteria, including ‘their strategic fit with Maritime 2050, value for money and environment impact’.
The winners are:
1. Lead organisation: Babcock International Group
Consortium: Fuel Cell Systems, Plug Power, University of Warwick Manufacturing Group
Project Title: FC-BATShip Fuel Cell-Battery Hybrid Ship: Advanced power-energy management solution for zero emission marine propulsion systems
Funding award: £195,407.00
2. Lead organisation: Bibby Marine Services Ltd
Consortium: Damen Shipyards, Lloyd’s Register, Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, Peel Group, Square 5
Project Title: WaveMaster Zero C
Funding award: £ 208,528.00
3. Lead organisation: BMT
Project Title: Energy Saving Technology (EST) Asset Leasing Models
Funding award: £27,160.53
4. Lead organisation: Green Fuel Research
Consortium: London South Bank University, University of Cardiff
Project Title: SALMO: Sustainable Aquaculture Leading to Marine Opportunities
Funding award: £243,814.69
5. Lead organisation: Intrada Ships Management
Project Title: Electrification and Storage of Energy on Coastal General Cargo Vessel
Funding award: £ 67,424.89
6. Lead organisation: Marine South East (Commercial) Ltd.
Consortium: Houlder Ltd., Lloyds Register. Swanbarton Ltd
Project Title: Flow Batteries for Marine Application (FLO-MAR)
Funding award: £69,446.82
7. Lead organisation: Plymouth Boat Trips
Consortium: EVParts, Plymouth University, Teignbridge Propellers, University of Exeter, Voyager Marine Ltd.
Project Title: First Fully Electric Domestic Passenger Vessel in the UK
Funding award: £105,500.00
8. Lead organisation: RS Sailing
Project Title: TorQ
Funding award: £250,000.00
9. Lead organisation: Signol
Consortium: University College London (UCL) - Energy Institute
Project Title: STEAM (Sustainability Through Efficient Actions in Maritime)
Funding award: £129,846.56
10. Lead organisation: University of Nottingham
Consortium: MAHLE Powertrain Ltd., Shell
Project Title: Advanced Zero Emission Ammonia Engines for Future Marine Applications
Funding award: £97,336.91
John Howie MBE, Chair of MarRI-UK, commented on the grant submissions and awards: ‘We are pleased to announce the winners of the Clean Maritime Call. These projects will play an important role in supporting the British maritime sector’s vision of zero-emission shipping and the UK Government’s Maritime 2050 strategy.
‘It was encouraging to see such a high quality and large volume of responses, which made it all the harder to choose only ten project winners. The quality and quantity of submissions is a testimony to the commitment to continued development and innovation across the Maritime sector.’
Detailed project summaries can be found on the MarRI-UK website (www.marri-uk.org)
