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Registration Opens: 22/03/2021   -   Registration Closes: 02/06/2021

Your project must have total eligible costs between £25,000 and £1,000,000.

Projects must start by 1 September 2021, last up to 7 months and end by 31 March 2022. It's a very tight window, that you must be able to work within.


BEFORE YOU START

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start. This page describes what they ask you. The application is split into 3 sections:

1. Project details
2. Application questions, and
3. Finances - as follows

SECTION 1. PROJECT DETAILS

This section provides background for the assessors and is not scored.

Application team

Decide which organisations will work with you on the project. Invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.

Application details

The lead applicant must complete this section. Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Research category

Select the type of research you will undertake.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We collect and report on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) data to address under-representation in business innovation and ensure equality, diversity and inclusion across all our activities.

You must complete this EDI survey and then select yes in the application question. The survey will ask you questions on your gender, age, ethnicity and disability status. You will always have the option to ‘prefer not to say’ if you do not feel comfortable sharing this information.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign experts to assess your application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Public description

Describe your project in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If they award your project funding, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Fitting within the publishes Scope

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. You must clearly state which theme is the main focus of your project. If your project is not in scope it will not be eligible for funding.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

SECTION 2. APPLICATION QUESTIONS

The assessors will score your answers for questions 2 to 11, question 1 is not scored. You will receive feedback from them for each scored question.

Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

Question 1. Project partners location (not scored)

Please state the name of each organisation along with its full registered address. If you are working with an academic institution this doesn’t need to be included.

Question 2. Need or challenge

How will your project support the transition to zero emission shipping?

What is the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity behind your innovation?

Describe or explain:

- your project objectives and deliverables

- how your project will support the adoption of technology to improve the level of lifecycle GHG emissions compared to conventional fuels and propulsion

- how your project will support the transition to achieve zero emission shipping and how your project objectives will overcome barriers to adoption of these technologies

- how this project might support or enable the development of regulation, including engagement to date with relevant regulatory bodies

- how the project will further the understanding of the current gaps in knowledge on the technical aspects of the technology

- any work you have already undertaken to support your project

Question 3. Approach and innovation

What approach will you take and where will the focus of the innovation be?

Describe or explain:

• the technical detail and approach of proposed project, with reference to barriers that the project seeks to overcome

• whether the project will focus on the application of existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas or a totally disruptive approach
the technology development or progress that will be achieved by the project, including defined success criteria

• the estimated level of ‘well-to-wake’ greenhouse gas emission savings resulting from the technology including from any subsequent deployment of the technology. Please state any assumptions and evidence where possible. Well-to-wake is defined as the emissions associated with production, distribution and storage and usage of the energy covering both direct savings from the project and future potential indirect savings across other applicable vessels

• how your approach has considered the regulatory landscape and challenges to implementing the technology. It should demonstrate a clear plan of how the project will engage with the relevant regulatory authorities in order to provide the assurances required to enable the project to proceed

• the freedom you have to operate

• how this project fits with your current product, service lines or offerings

• how it will make you more competitive

• the nature of the outputs you expect from the project (for example report, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design) and how these will help you to reach your objective or success criteria

You can submit one appendix. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 4. Team and resources

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Describe or explain:

- the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to your approach

- the resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access them, particularly in the light of any continuing COVID-19 restrictions

- who in the team will be responsible for considering and leading on regulatory aspects

- the details of any vital external parties, including subcontractors, who you will need to work with to successfully carry out the project

- (if your project is collaborative) the current relationships between project partners and how these will change as a result of the project

- any roles you will need to recruit for taking into account the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the team structure

You can submit one appendix. This can include a short summary of the main people working on the project to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 4 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 5. Market awareness

Which areas of the market is your project impacting?

Describe or explain:

• the markets (domestic, international or both) and sub sectors (e.g. crew transfer vessels, short sea ferries etc) you will be targeting in the project, and any other potential markets

• the size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where available

• the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframes

• the target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that exist

• the current UK position in targeting these markets

• the size and main features of any other markets not already listed

If your project is highly innovative, where the market may be unexplored, describe or explain:

- what the market’s size might to be

- how your project will try to explore the market’s potential

Question 6. Outcomes and route to markets

Describe or explain:

• how you will protect and exploit the outputs of the project, for example through know-how, patenting, designs or changes to your business model

• how will the project anchor the IP generated in the UK

• how the project will be exploited for the benefit of the UK supply chain in the future

Consider

• the route to commercialisation for your technology or fuel after the project
• the potential benefits of future commercialisation within the UK
• the potential benefits from export of the technology

If there is any research organisation activity in the project, describe:

• your plans to spread the project’s research outputs over a reasonable timescale
• how you expect to use the results generated from the project in further research activities

Question 7. Wider impacts

What impact might this project have outside the project team? State what will happen as a result of this project and what the impacts will be as a result of the future demonstration and deployment

Describe, and where possible, measure or estimate the economic benefits from the project such as productivity increases and import substitution, to:

• external parties
• customers
• others in the supply chain
• broader industry
• the UK economy

Describe, and where possible, measure or quantify:

• any expected impact on government priorities, including economic growth around the UK, boosting productivity and creation of jobs

• any expected environmental impacts other than Greenhouse Gas emissions such as air quality, either positive or negative

• any expected regional impacts of the project

Describe any expected social impacts, either positive or negative on, for example:

- quality of life
- social inclusion or exclusion
- jobs, such as safeguarding, creating, changing or displacing them
- education
- public empowerment
- health and safety
- regulations
- diversity

Question 8. Project management

How will you manage the project effectively?

Describe or explain:

• the main work packages of the project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each one

• your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcome

• the management reporting lines

• your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones, considering the possible impact of further COVID-19 restrictions

You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF, can be up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 9. Risks

What are the main risks for this project?

Describe or explain:

• the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks

• the timeline for delivery of the feasibility study before March 2022

• how you will mitigate these risks

• any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, data sets

• any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and so on, and how you will manage this

You must submit a risk register and timing plan as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 10. Added value

What impact would an injection of public funding have on the businesses involved?

Describe or explain:

- whether this project could go ahead in any form without public funding and if so, the difference the public funding would make, such as a faster route to market, more partners or reduced risk

- the likely impact of the project on the businesses of the partners involved

- why you are not able to wholly fund the project from your own resources or other forms of private-sector funding, and what would happen if the application is unsuccessful

- how this project would change the nature of R&D activity the partners would undertake, and the related spend

Question 11. Costs and value for money

How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?

In terms of the project goals, describe or explain:

- the total eligible project costs
- the grant you are requesting
- how each partner will finance their contributions to the project
- how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer
- how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise
- the balance of costs and grant across the project partners
- any subcontractor costs and why they are critical to the project

SECTION 3. FINANCES

Each organisation in your project must complete their own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application. Academic institutions must complete and upload a Je-S form.

For full details on what costs you can claim see our project costs guidance.

APPLY: STRAND 1 (feasibility studies, £25k-£1m)

SUMMARY - ELIGIBILITY - SCOPE - HOW TO APPLY - SUPPORT - COSTS - EDGE

APPLY: STRAND 2 (innovation projects, £100k-£4m)
  

SUMMARY - ELIGIBILITY - SCOPE - HOW TO APPLY - SUPPORTING INFO

SDGs 13 CLIMATE & 14 OCEANS : The Elizabeth Swann is shown above is a zero emissions vessel, designed to use only solar and wind power for propulsion, to help nations meet their sustainability development goals (SDGs), as per the Accord de Paris in 2015.

CLEAN MARITIME PLAN INTRODUCTION: 1 - 13

SECTION 1 - TACKLING EMISSIONS:  14 - 50
SECTION 2 - OUR APPROACH:  51 - 58
SECTION 3 - ECONOMICS:  59 - 95
SECTION 4 - INFRASTRUCTURE:  96 - 120
SECTION 5 INNOVATION:  121 - 129
SECTION 6 - REGULATION:  130 - 138
SECTION 7 - NEXT STEPS:  139 - 140
MAP - THE 2050 PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS

GLOSSARY

END NOTES REFERENCE LINKS

The Department for Transport will work with Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, to invest up to £20m for innovative clean maritime and smart shipping projects. The Secretary of State in 2018 was Chris Grayling, Minister for Marine, Nus Ghani, and Sec. of State from 2019, Grant Shapps.

HORIZON EUROPE

Horizon Europe is the EU's €100 billion euro research and innovation programme, the European equivalent of UKRI, 35% of which is allocated to achieving climate objectives under SDG13, but where funding applications are extremely complicated - and SMEs inevitably fall at the administration and finance hurdle.

LINKS & REFERENCE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_for_Transport

https://ktn-uk.org/opportunities/clean-maritime-demonstration-competition/

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