The UK Government has launched a £60 million (approximately $64.7 million) clean maritime competition to finance innovative projects in the marine sector. The government expects projects that will cut its greenhouse gas emissions. The new Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has announced a £60 million funding to mark this year’s World Maritime Day. As this year’s celebration theme is ‘New technologies for greener shipping, ‘the announcement coincides with it. This fund will serve the third round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC).
The third round of the CMDC is part of the series of interventions by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE). UK SHORE intends to change the maritime sector into a sector abounding in clean technologies, making the UK a global leader in that clean sector.
‘The UK has always been a proud seafaring nation, and helping the maritime sector to be more environmentally friendly will mean it continues to play a key role in the UK’s economy for generations to come. This World Maritime Day, we’re announcing funding to harness the best innovations the UK has to offer – proving that tackling climate change can go hand-in-hand with business innovation, job creation, and supercharging economic growth.’
The competition will produce funds for real-world demonstrations of novel technologies in an operational setting. Companies are expected to develop, test in real-time, and deploy novel clean maritime technologies. This third round requires projects that will run from April 2023 to March 2025 and should run within 24 months. The UK government also noted that companies would be able to bid to get a portion of the funding. These maritime companies can use the fund to invest in clean maritime technologies for wider use in the future.
Also, funds will be available from the Department for Transport collaborating with Innovate UK to develop systems and technology demonstrations when new pre-commercial fuels, vessels, and infrastructure start to build.
The second round of the competition was launched in May 2022, and the winning projects were also announced. A fund of £12 million was shared between 121 UK companies. One of the winning projects is by Artemis Technologies, collaborating with Tidal Transit, ORE Catapult, and Lloyd’s Register. They received over £1 million to develop a green, 24-meter workboat to transfer workers to and from offshore wind farms.
‘Following years of underinvestment in research and innovation by the maritime industry, the sector is under real pressure to develop and adopt disruptive technologies if it has any chance of achieving the UK’s ambitious net-zero targets. The clean maritime demonstration competition is welcomed by the sector and will play a critical role in helping accelerate the UK’s transition to a more sustainable maritime future,’ David Tyler, Commercial Director at Artemis Technology, said.
Speaking at the event, Innovate UK Executive Director for Net Zero, Mike Biddle, said: ‘The maritime sector is of crucial importance to the UK, with more than 95% of our trade running through the major ports that connect us to the global economy. As such an important part of the UK economy, significant change is needed to ensure that the sector adapts to new, clean technologies, reducing maritime emissions. This latest, multi-year round of the government’s clean maritime demonstration competition builds on the success of the first two rounds, stimulating innovation to ensure the UK is at the forefront of this transition to make maritime greener.’
We have a team of industry experts and content curators to offer readers the latest updates about Renewable energy, Microgrids and Green Finance. Our stories have been published in some major news publications and we strive to create awareness and help save our planet through clean energy.