£33m government funding to develop green technologies for ports and ships
Maritime Minister Lord Davies has announced the winners of £33 million of government funding to develop green technologies for ports and ships as part of the decarbonisation of the sector.
The £33 million has been awarded to 33 projects across the UK to deliver demonstrations, trials and feasibility studies. The funding comes from the fourth round of the Government’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC4), which focuses on developing clean maritime technologies, such as: electric vessels, charging ports, hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, wind power and more.
Some of the 33 projects awarded the funding include:
Net Zero Ports of the Future: Demonstrating the Integration of green hydrogen shore power with water reuse. This project, led by Waterwhelm Ltd, will deliver an innovative demonstrator system for green hydrogen production and utilisation, supplying shore power at the Port of Leith. The system will use treated wastewater and its own waste heat, in a circular economy approach.
Ultra-efficient electric boats: Led by Optima Projects, this venture aims to demonstrate an ultra-efficient 10-metre electric boat with a range of up to 150 miles while developing 13-metre versions of the boat for leisure and commercial use.
Demonstration of a Smart Grant Funded Zero-carbon Vessel Design: Led by WSW Marine Ltd, the plan here is to build the first leisure vessel to run almost entirely on bio-methanol. The vessel will be an aluminium catamaran, designed to lead the leisure and light-commercial maritime sectors to lower carbon offshore use.
PALM Charger: This project, led by Apollo Offshore Engineering Ltd, will trial a charging system in Orkney that allows a vessel to connect to an offshore-mounted charging point. Virtual Bunkering for Electric Vessels Demo: AQUA Superpower, along with partner RS Marine, aims to deliver the world’s first vesselto-grid demonstration project. It will show how batteries on electric vessels can be utilised, when not in use for propulsion, to deliver energy storage and flexibility services to harbours, ports and the grid.
The funding awarded through the CMDC now totals £128 million. The CMDC funding comes from the wider £206 million UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme, announced in March 2022.