Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure 2: Electric Power

Who can apply

Your project

Your project must:

• have total eligible costs between £6 million and £60 million

• start by 1 April 2027

• claim all grant funding by 31 December 2029

• complete a non-funded three year demonstration, starting by 1 January 2030 and ending by 31 December 2032

• have a maximum total project grant funding request of no more than £30 million, of which no more than £20 million can be allocated to a single participant

Any funded organisation must intend to exploit the project results from or in the UK.

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs. Eligible capital costs are explained within the application form.

If your project’s total costs, grant funding request or duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 20 working days before the competition closes. We will decide whether to approve your request.

If you have not requested approval or your application has not been approved by us, you will be made ineligible. Your application will then not be sent for assessment.

Lead organisation

To lead a collaborative project your organisation must:

• be a UK registered business of any size

• be, or collaborate with, a UK registered ship owner, manufacturer or operator

• be, or collaborate with, a UK registered infrastructure owner or operator, for example, a port, harbour, marina, inland waterway authority or windfarm

Ship is defined in the Merchant Shipping Act (MSA) 1995 Section 313(1).

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.

Trust ports and Municipal ports will be treated as businesses.

Academic institutions cannot lead or work alone.

Project team

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size

• academic institution

• charity

• not for profit

• public sector organisation

• research and technology organisation (RTO)

Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs and completing their Project Impact questions in the application.

To be an eligible collaboration, the lead and at least one other organisation must:

• apply for funding when entering their costs into the application.

• include rationale for the collaboration and describe the structure in your application

Non-funded partners

Your project can include organisations who do not claim any funding for their work on the project. Their costs will be covered from their own resources. These can include UK, EU and other non-UK organisations. Non-UK partners are permitted to carry out project work from within their home countries and exploit the results outside the UK.

Where non-funded partners have been invited to the application on IFS, their costs will count towards the total eligible project costs.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK.

You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.

Any overseas subcontracting will be assessed for value for money for the UK.

Your grant offer may be withdrawn if you use overseas subcontracting that has not been approved by Innovate UK following a notification of success.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.

Where your project involves a shipyard or boat builder as a subcontractor, the National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) can be used in an advisory capacity to understand UK shipbuilding capability.

The NSO are willing to discuss specifics with projects and can be accessed by emailing NSO-Secretariat@mod.gov.uk.

Number of applications

A business can only lead on one application across all three strands of this competition. A business can also lead on one application across all three strands of Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition 7 (CMDC 7).

If leading an application, a business can also be included as a collaborator or subcontractor in two further applications across all three strands of this competition and the CMDC 7.

If a business is not leading any application, it can collaborate or be a subcontractor in any number of applications across all three strands of the ZEVI 2 and the CMDC 7 competitions

Applications that do not meet these requirements will be made ineligible, in order of the most recent submission being made ineligible first.

All other eligible organisations can collaborate on any number of applications.

If you are involved in more than one application, you must clearly state how all projects can be resourced and delivered if successful. You may be asked for further evidence of your resources at interview, if invited.

If Innovate UK have concerns about your ability to deliver multiple projects successfully, we reserve the right to award funding based on evidence of your capacity to manage them.

If you are involved in other Innovate UK funded projects, you must show you have the resources in place to deliver further projects funded by this ZEVI 2 competition.

Innovate UK reserve the right to decide the success of an application based on evidence of capacity to manage multiple live projects. If you are delivering live Innovate UK projects, we will review your current delivery and performance towards expected stated deliverables.

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both that in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Previous applications

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

If you have previously submitted an application that reached our assessment stage, you can re-apply once more with the same proposal.

If there are minor differences to the proposal, but it is judged by us to be ‘not materially different’, the same rule applies.

We will not award you funding if you have:

• failed to exploit a previously funded project

• an overdue independent accountant’s report

• failed to comply with grant terms and conditions

Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to us in relation to other projects.

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)

This competition provides funding in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).

Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage.

EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. See the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies to your organisation.

Further Information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must not do anything which could cause a breach of Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to or distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

This award is classified as a Subsidy which does not form part of your Minimal Financial Assistance or de minimis allowance.

Funding

Up to £150 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.

Research and development costs (non-capital costs)

If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

The balance between your total eligible project costs and the amount of grant awarded must be funded by the organisation receiving the grant.

For industrial research projects, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation

• up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation

• up to 50% if you are a large organisation

For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 45% if you are a micro or small organisation

• up to 35% if you are a medium sized organisation

• up to 25% if you are a large organisation

For more information on company sizes, refer to the company accounts guidance.

If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.

Eligible R&D costs can include:

• labour costs: this includes the costs of employed staff working directly on the project, including indirect back office staff who support project activities like budgeting, project reporting, and recruiting

• overheads: as a percentage of labour cost

• materials costs: costs for materials used in the research, development and scale up process

• subcontracting costs: costs for subcontracting specific tasks or services to third party providers

• travel and subsistence costs: costs for travel and subsistence related to the project

R&D costs are described in further detail in our cost guidance for non-academic organisations.

Capital costs

Your application can include the purchase of capital equipment as an eligible project cost for large scale demonstration projects. Investments must be relevant to the project and the maximum intervention rate on these purchases is up to 80% grant for the duration of the project, up until 31 December 2029, for all organisations.

If your project falls under the Windsor Framework, it will need to comply with State Aid rules. In some cases, this can mean lower intervention rates.

Your eligible project capital costs must be the purchase, construction, or upgrade of research resources, including vessels and infrastructure, that perform economic activities.

Your total eligible project capital costs must be the investment costs in intangible and tangible assets. These can relate to vessels or infrastructure.

If any funded asset has value at the end of your project, you must retain and continue to use that asset for at least the shorter period of either:

• five years following the project completion, or

• until the asset has zero or scrap value

Access to the infrastructure must be open to several users outside of the project, without discrimination, and be granted on a transparent basis. Users must be charged the appropriate market price.

If an organisation has financed at least 10% of the investment costs of the project infrastructure, it can be granted preferential access under more favourable conditions. The access must be in proportion to the organisation’s contribution to the investment costs and access conditions must be made publicly available, unless within a restricted area.

Within a capital infrastructure project involving businesses or collaborations with business and research organisations, if your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits set out in this scope.

Where you are conducting commercial or economic activities (which may include research organisations) as part of the project, you can claim grant funding up to 80% of their eligible project costs. The funding rates are a maximum rate, the funding you request should be the minimum amount to make your project viable.

Funding cannot be used to reduce the total cost of vessel operations to below the comparable cost of fossil fuel vessel operations. You will have to submit details of your capital costs as part of your application.

You could get funding for your eligible project capital costs for the duration of the project up until 31 December 2029 of up to 80% of your investment into:

• vessels used for your demonstration

• infrastructure used for your demonstration

Capital equipment costs

This includes all specialist plant and equipment, laboratory, process kit, machinery, computers, furniture; all the necessary kit to fit out the build project which would be capitalised.

The associated technicians and calibration costs to get the kit up and running forms part of the overall capital costs and can be capitalised.

Note: there should be no duplication of items stated here and in Capital Usage within operating costs (R&D costs).

Property capital costs

This includes all costs associated with the capital build and covers:

• land purchase costs or property acquisition, including acquisition price, Land Registry fees and Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)

• construction costs, for example, new build, refurbishment and fit out

• equipment procured through a works contractor, for example, furniture, fixtures and fittings, IT and AV costs

• professional fees, including legal, Project Manager, Quantity Surveyor, design fees, commissions, statutory fees, consultant fees, project insurance

Capitalised labour

This is labour costs incurred specifically associated with the capital build which can be capitalised. This should not cover labour costs associated with day to day running as this is captured within the operating labour costs (R&D costs).

Other costs

This is to capture any items not specific to the other categories.

Ineligible R&D and capital costs include:

• working capital to enable commercial production

• costs of materials sold as part of limited commercial activity

• costs or expenses that will be incurred or defrayed outside of the time period covered by the live phase of the project

• contingency costs

• any fees associated with any periodic audit or accountancy reports that we require in accordance with the grant

You will have to provide a cost breakdown for these costs in your application. You can contact support@iuk.ukri.org for clarification about funding levels and eligible costs.

We may contact applicants for further information related to your capital costs after your application has been submitted.

You will not be able to receive more grant funding than you’ve applied for, even if your costs increase during the project.

Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.

Research participation

The research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 5% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation undertaking non-economic activity, this maximum is shared between them. Of that 5% you can get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

• 100% of your eligible project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation

• 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are a Je-S registered institution such as an academic

Eligibility criteria for claiming 80% of FEC funding

1. Research organisations using the Je-S system must submit their costs through the Je-S system which calculates the 80% FEC figure.

2. On IFS, only the 80% FEC output should be entered at 100% funding.

3. Applicants do not need to show the remaining 20% on the finance table.

To find out more see our: Cost Guidance for Academics.

Your proposal

The overall aim of this competition is to fund UK business led development and build of innovative clean maritime technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Successful projects will be required to demonstrate their technology for three years without funding support.

The Electric Power strand will fund the development and build of:

• innovative 100% battery electric vessels and accompanying charging infrastructure, and

• novel, innovative and commercially viable shore power systems including related energy infrastructure at ports and any accompanying vessel upgrades

Shore power projects must focus on novel and innovative shore power infrastructure and vessels that will have shore power capability. The infrastructure must be for providing power to vessels whilst moored, allowing vessels to turn off their conventional power supply.

If you are in any doubt about which strand to apply into, you must check by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. If you apply into the wrong strand, you will be ineligible, and your application will not be assessed.

Definitions

For this competition, maritime is defined as the activity of commercial and pleasure vessels and supporting infrastructure, used in the transportation of people and goods by water, or to perform activities at offshore installations at sea and in inland waterways.

Alternative fuel is defined as zero and near zero GHG emission fuels. The difference between low carbon fuels and zero and near zero GHG emission fuels is described in Box 3 of the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy. Since the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy was published, the International Maritime Organisation has approved amendments to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships that include a definition of zero and near zero GHG emission fuels.

For the purposes of this competition, zero and near zero GHG emission fuels are defined as fuels with a GHG Fuel Intensity (GFI) of no more than 19.0 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent (gCO2eq) per megajoule (MJ). GFI must be calculated on a well-to-wake basis.

Well-to-wake emissions are defined as the sum of well-to-tank and tank-to-wake emissions. Tank-to-wake emissions are the emissions that are generated by operating maritime vessels. Well-to-tank emissions are the emissions from the production and distribution of the fuels and other energy sources that are used by maritime vessels. For more details see:

• Box 1 in the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy Analytical Annex, and

• the IMO framework on life cycle GHG intensity of marine fuels

Energy efficiency technology for vessels is defined as technology that reduces both the CO2eq emissions and energy use of vessels per unit of transport work, for example, reduction in gCO2eq per tonne mile.

Your project will be funded from the agreed start date up until 31 December 2029, for costs associated with:

• project delivery

• vessel development

• infrastructure development

You must demonstrate all funded vessels and infrastructure in a real world environment for three years, without grant funding support, ending 31 December 2032.

Your proposal must:

• evidence you can build or retrofit vessels with clean maritime technology and build accompanying infrastructure to be ready for demonstration by 31 December 2029

• fully define, cost and evidence commercial viability of an extensive demonstration in real world conditions for three years before 31 December 2032

• demonstrate a significant reduction in the well-to-wake greenhouse gas emissions from the maritime sector, including where relevant, addressing air pollution risks or other environmental impacts from decarbonisation solutions

• include relevant representative end users such as a vessel operators, port or harbour authority: the end users must be an integral part in the project development and demonstration

• demonstrate significant market potential through a clear strategy for commercialising the technology and the products, demonstrating the potential for significant value to the UK

Your project must:

• have a realistic and comprehensive build or retrofit plan that controls external risk associated with commercial, regulatory and supply chain factors

• demonstrate operational utilisations of your vessels and infrastructure by operating vessels in various locations and sea states, while performing a range of duty cycles to reflect a full scale commercial operational profile

• collaborate fully with organisations responsible for regulation, safety and incident response to conduct a safe demonstration

• ensure all funded vessels and infrastructure are in operation by 31 December 2029; vessels can be deployed earlier or in stages if appropriate but the demonstration period starts once all funded technology is in operation

• ensure adequate training is provided for all those using the vessels or infrastructure

• ensure there are appropriate repair and maintenance provisions for your vessels and infrastructure during the three year demonstration period

Throughout, and at the end of your project you must:

• produce a clear, detailed and costed plan to fully scale and enter the solution into UK and global markets over the following three years after project completion, including your technical approach, objectives and business case

• produce a summary report for public release of lessons learned from the project

• quantify the actual and potential reduction of well-to-wake greenhouse gas emissions, the actual and potential impacts on other emissions and positive economic impacts in the future

• develop evidence on expected commercial applications and exploitation, and potential market segments

• explain your understanding of any barriers to market adoption

• detail the barriers to adoption that the future demonstration will overcome and the innovation that will be delivered

• share your demonstration data and findings with the Department for Transport (DfT), Maritime and Coastguard agency (MCA), Innovate UK and any third party contractors appointed by them

• produce a clear plan for disseminating the results of your project and knowledge sharing to government, industry and academia

• provide the evidence required to support the DfT’s evaluation of the scheme

For these deliverables, Innovate UK will issue further guidance to successful projects on the requirements for engaging with and providing the evidence required to support the DfT’s evaluation of the scheme. Failure to engage with the evaluation when requested could result in your project being suspended or funding withdrawn.

Successful projects will be required to engage with the DfT, Innovate UK and any third party contractors appointed by them relating to evaluation of ZEVI2 projects.

Data shared with these parties is expected to include written application responses, project initiation data, monitoring data, end of project reports and involvement in some primary data collection activities such as surveys and focus groups. All information will be treated as commercially sensitive.

Demonstration Period

Your demonstration must include the vessel and infrastructure technology being used in a representative real world operational environment for a period of at least three years. The demonstration must reflect a full scale commercial operational profile and the vessel and infrastructure technology must have significant use throughout the demonstration period.

There is no fixed definition of how projects must undertake their demonstration and use this three year period. The demonstration will depend on your project, technology and what is required to prove its performance. We require projects utilise this three year period fully and to gather as much performance data as possible.

Your application must clearly state how you plan to undertake the demonstration, including how much time in operational use you currently expect and why this is appropriate for your project. During the demonstration you must validate the technology, vessel and infrastructure operation for the use case or target market and capture data on the performance, including its impacts on greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts.

Projects which include a vessel intended to operate at sea must include appropriate demonstrations for three years at sea. Projects may undertake initial tests in categorised waters before progressing to sea, subject to compliance with relevant regulations, but this must be done before the three year demonstration period.

Vessel demonstrations should plan to operate in a variety of sea states. Vessels must comply with and be certificated in accordance with relevant regulations before proceeding to sea.

Applicants should be aware that the demonstration must start by December 2029 which is when sea states are typically greater around the UK.

Projects which include vessels operating on categorised waters, for example, inland waterways, that will never operate at sea can complete their full demonstration within categorised waters.

The three year demonstration period should take place in UK waters wherever possible. If the vessel in your project is intended to operate in inland waterways or territorial seas only, the demonstration must take place only in UK inland waterways or UK territorial seas.

International vessel operations are only acceptable where they are a normal and necessary part of the vessel’s commercial operational profile. International journeys must be fully justified and the benefit to the UK clearly explained. International journeys must originate from the UK and must have frequent visits to the UK. We will not fund international infrastructure nor accept operations originating outside the UK.

Types of vessel and vessel regulation

Technologies for all sizes and categories of maritime vessel subject to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 are in scope, including pleasure, commercial fishing and aquaculture vessels. Solutions can be suitable for one target size of vessel or multiple.

Vessels must comply with relevant regulations when undertaking voyages and where appropriate, be certificated subject to vessel type. These vessels cannot proceed to sea without relevant seagoing certification.

For a project involving a new hull, the vessel must be a United Kingdom Ship built to Classification Society or Certifying Authority rules. The vessel must remain a UK Ship under that Classification Society or Certifying Authority for the full demonstration period.

United Kingdom Ship is defined in 85(2) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

For a project involving testing technology on an existing vessel, the vessel is expected to be a United Kingdom Ship, otherwise you must provide justification for not using a United Kingdom Ship in your application. The vessel must be under Classification Society or Certifying Authority Rules during build or retrofit and during the demonstration period.

Projects involving a vessel must engage with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) during the project. The MCA may also contact successful projects shortly after you are notified to discuss the details of your project. Failure to engage with the MCA when requested could result in your project being suspended or funding withdrawn.

Types of Infrastructure

Any physical structures or systems necessary to enable 100% battery electric vessel operations, onshore or offshore are in scope. This includes infrastructure for freight, passenger, pleasure and commercial vessels, located at, for example, ports, harbours or wind farms. Port based energy systems that supply energy to maritime vessels are in scope. This includes innovative localised energy generation, load management and energy storage solutions to supply energy to maritime vessels.

Shore power infrastructure that enables vessels to turn off their conventional power supply for ancillary systems, also known as cold ironing, is in scope where it is novel, innovative and commercially viable.

You must:

• ensure all proposed infrastructure funded through the programme is, accessible to other operators outside the consortia by appointment and at a suitable market rate

• ensure infrastructure is located to enable a variety of operations, potentially including offshore charging

• ensure all infrastructure funded through the programme is extensively used by vessels

• meet all safety, regulatory and legal requirements

• align with current and emerging international standards

• describe any decommissioning that is required at the conclusion of the demonstration; infrastructure which can viably be repurposed does not require decommissioning

Projects can use existing or planned infrastructure where it is compatible with their demonstration.

Value for the UK

We strongly encourage projects from around the UK to support jobs and economic growth, including projects from ports, vessel operators, vessel manufacturers and their supply chain. We welcome projects from areas with existing clean maritime expertise or co-located in clusters of renewable energy production and usage, including hydrogen.

You must clearly demonstrate how you will anchor intellectual property (IP) generated by the project in the UK. You must also show how this IP will be exploited for the benefit of the UK supply chain and wider economy in the future.

Previous applications and projects

We encourage projects that have been successful and were funded by previous Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) rounds, to apply for further funding support to continue developing your projects. However, you are not required to have been successful in a previous round of the CMDCs to apply with an eligible project to ZEVI 2.

Once your project is completed, you are expected to be at the point that you are investment and construction ready to fully scale the solution.

Portfolio approach

We want to fund a variety of projects across different priority themes, specific themes, strands, technologies, markets, technological maturities, research categories and locations. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

Your project can focus on one or more of the following:

Priority theme

Projects involving multiple vessels for multiple end users.

Your priority theme project must also address the central theme below. This priority theme is of particular interest in this competition, but we welcome all applications that address the central theme.

Central theme

Your project must focus on one or more of the following:

• 100% battery electric new build or retrofit vessels and accompanying charging infrastructure, including related energy infrastructure at ports

• novel, innovative and commercially viable shore power systems, including related energy infrastructure at ports and any accompanying vessel upgrades

Shore power projects must consider:

• the energy source, its cost, sustainability, resilience, capacity, connection requirements and timeline

• users, pricing and likely utilisation during the demonstration period

• how you’re satisfied that there’s current or likely future demand for shore power in your locations

• how to maintain operation and grow utilisation beyond the demonstration period

• how to ensure all shore power infrastructure has significant use by vessels.

Shore power applicants are encouraged to contact support@iuk.ukri.org at least 20 working days before the competition closes to check whether your application is in scope.

Smart shipping, digital and autonomy technologies are in scope only if developed as part of a project focussed on the above themes.

Research categories

We will fund industrial research projects and experimental development projects, as defined in the guidance on categories of research.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that are:

• focusing on increasing the combustion efficiency or improving the design of conventional fossil fuel powertrains, except where related to waste heat recovery

• including funded costs for fossil fuels and fossil fuel powertrains

• focusing on battery electric vessels that are not 100% battery electric, for example, propulsion systems that are a hybrid of electric and fossil fuel

• focusing on shore power systems that are not novel, innovative and commercially viable

• focusing on marine conservation and ecology

• focusing on removing non-GHG and indirect GHGs from the combustion products of conventional fossil fuels and synthetic fossil fuels

• focusing on non-methanol biofuels, except for projects that utilise biofuels as a pilot fuel or secondary fuel on vessels predominantly powered by methanol, ammonia or hydrogen that are zero or net zero GHG emission

• focusing on Personal Watercraft (PWC)

• focusing on the use and production of synthetic fuels, note: this exclusion does not apply to the use of zero or near zero greenhouse gas emission methanol, ammonia and hydrogen fuels

• focusing on submarines and submersible vessels

• focusing on military applications

• covered by existing commercial agreements to deliver the proposed solutions

• a duplicate of existing innovation

We cannot fund projects that are:

• dependent on export performance, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country

• dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product

15 April 2026

Live briefing event: register to attend

Briefing slides will be available to download from Supporting Information after the event

28 October 2026

Invite to interview

23 November 2026

Interview panel starts

4 December 2026

Interview panel ends

4 January 2027

Applicants notified

1 April 2027

Project start from

Before you start

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

• that all the information provided in the application is correct

• your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria

• all sections of the application are marked as complete

• that all partners have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs)

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

What we ask you

The application is split into four sections:

1. Project details.

2. Application questions.

3. Finances.

4. Project Impact.

Accessibility and Inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Application team

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

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Research category

Select the type of research you will undertake.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right 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 we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Scope

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1 to 7. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.

You must answer all questions.

You must not include any website addresses or links (URLs) in your answers. If you do, your application will be made ineligible.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)

You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation and any partners or subcontractors working on your project.

We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 2. Animal testing (not scored)

Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.

Question 3. Permits and licences (not scored)

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?

We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

• In the process of being applied for

Not applicable

Question 4. International collaboration (not scored)

Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?

You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement. You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in. You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers.

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 5. Export licence (not scored)

You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

Question 6. Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored)

You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including:

• a list of any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research

• a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act

• whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications

• a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List

If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this.

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 7. End user (not scored)

Who will be the end users involved in your project?

Your response must state:

• all the project partners who are ship owners, manufactures and operators

• all the project partners who are infrastructure owners and operators

You must describe how they are contributing to the project.

Your answer can be up to 200 words long.

You can submit an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to one A4 page and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 8. Need or challenge

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

Explain:

• the main motivation for the project

• the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity

• whether you have identified any similar innovation and its current limitations, including those close to market or in development

• the problem that the outcomes of this project will solve; be specific about the needs of your target end users

• how your project will provide a viable solution to these problems

• any work you have already done to respond to this need, for example, if the project focuses on developing an existing capability or building a new one

• the wider economic, social, environmental, cultural or political challenges which are influential in creating the opportunity, such as incoming regulations

Explain how the project will enable the uptake of clean maritime technologies and how the project objectives overcome barriers to adoption of these technologies, including but not limited to:

• 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

• how the project will address the energy challenges associated with clean maritime adoption

Your answer can be up to 800 words long.

Question 9. Approach and innovation

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

Explain:

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

• how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified

• how you will improve on any similar innovation that you have identified

• whether the innovation will focus on existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas, or a totally disruptive approach

• the technically innovative elements of the project, evidencing why they are innovative

• the technology progress that will be achieved by the project, including targeted technical outcomes and defined success criteria, including the steps through which these outcomes will be realised, and the status of the technology at the end of the project

• how your project is tailored to maritime applications, and how you have considered the environmental, operational and practical challenges of innovation in the marine environment

• how your approach has considered the regulatory landscape and challenges to implementing the technology; you must demonstrate a clear understanding of the regulatory context

• how your project will engage with relevant regulatory authorities to progress both the innovative and non-innovative elements of your project, for example, vessel structure, stability and marine equipment

• 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, reports, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design, and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your answer can be up to 1000 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

Question 10. Demonstration period approach

What will your demonstration look like?

How will you ensure your demonstration starts on time and how will you sustain it for the whole three year demonstration period?

How will you ensure that any vessels and infrastructure will have significant use during the three year demonstration period and beyond?

How will you ensure data on the impact of the demonstration is monitored and collected and how will you capture lessons learned?

You must explain:

• the operational profile of all vessels and infrastructure being demonstrated, including location, frequency and duration of use throughout each year

• who will own the technology, vessels and infrastructure and who will be responsible for operating them

• the ongoing operational costs with robustly evidenced estimates, including any fuel and energy costs, and any unfunded capital costs for at least the whole three year demonstration period

• how the demonstration will be sustained commercially, including the source of funding that will cover ongoing operational costs, including any fuel and energy costs, and any unfunded capital costs

• the demonstration’s resilience to financial risks, with robust evidence

• the proposed commercial arrangements between relevant stakeholders for the demonstration

• how your plan for ensuring relevant crew training and other skills requirements are met ahead of demonstration

• external dependencies and how you will reduce your demonstration’s exposure to any associated external risks, including but not limited to: permitting, planning, grid connections, local and national authority approval, regulatory approval and other external stakeholder permissions

• how you have estimated your energy demand, where relevant

• how you will ensure a sufficient and sustainable energy supply is available in time to meet your demonstration plan and for continuing operation, where relevant

• how you will ensure offtakers and other customers are committed to using the facilities provided in this project, both during any demonstration period and beyond, including any landside infrastructure built as part of this project

• your plan for ensuring technical and economic data from your demonstration, as set out in the competition brief, is continuously monitored, collected and transferred to Innovate UK, DfT and any third party contractors

• who will be responsible for monitoring the performance of the demonstration in line with the requirements set out in the competition brief, collecting data from your demonstration and transferring it to Innovate UK, DfT and any third party contractors

• how you will ensure data is transferred to Innovate UK, DfT and any third party contractors consistently and accurately over the length of the demonstration

• how you will capture lessons learned and improve your technology throughout the demonstration period based on lessons learned and data captured

Note: Projects will be responsible for their own evidence gathering and monitoring for their own internal lessons learned and for the improvement of their technology and project. There will also be a discrete and independent evaluation being run by the DfT which will be evaluating the impacts of the portfolio and schemes. DfT’s evaluation may request your evidence, on top of other monitoring and evidence gathering mechanisms.

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your answer can be up to 1000 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

Question 11. Environmental impact

What impact will this project have on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from maritime and how have you evidenced this?

You must explain:

• the reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions from maritime that you forecast will directly result from this project and during the three year demonstration period

• any reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions from maritime that is the result of business expansion or post project R&D, and manufacturing activity that is directly related to the project

• why your forecasts are realistic, considering the market potential of your technology

• your calculations and the assumptions you have made where estimates are provided

• and provide evidence to justify where the reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions from maritime is enabled through addressing associated air pollution risks or other environmental impacts of decarbonisation solutions

• any other expected environmental impacts of the project, either positive or negative, and how any negative impacts will be mitigated; if no other environmental impacts are expected beyond the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, you must justify this

In the appendix, you should provide initial estimates of the annual reduction in the global greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions from maritime that will directly result from this project and post project activity.

For greenhouse gas emissions: estimates must be provided in mega tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2eq) on a well-to-wake basis.

For air pollutant emissions: estimates must be provided in tonnes on a tank-to-wake basis.

Where possible, separate estimates must be provided for both:

• the emission reductions that will directly result from this project during the three year demonstration period, and

• the emission reductions from business expansion or post project R&D and manufacturing activity that is directly related to the project

Robust supporting evidence must be provided for the estimates, and all assumptions and evidence must be clearly explained.

Assumptions about the expected future commercial deployment of your technology must be robustly justified, including which vessel types your technology is applicable to and the level of market share that your technology could realistically capture.

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your answer can be up to 1000 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

Question 12. Team and resources

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

Explain: 

• the end users in your team and how they are meaningfully contributing to the project 

• the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to the approach you will be taking 

• the resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access them 

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

• any use of overseas subcontractors and justification for their use including value for UK money 

• 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 

You can submit one appendix, with a short summary of the main people working on the project to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom. 

Your answer can be up to 800 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

Question 13. Market awareness

What does the market or markets you are targeting look like? 

Describe: 

• the expected level of demand for your technology, including which vessel types and sizes your technology can be applied to 

• the markets and sub sectors you will be targeting in the project, for example, crew transfer vessels, short sea ferries or any other potential markets, either domestic, international or both 

• 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 be 

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

Your answer can be up to 800 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

Question 14. Outcomes and route to market

How are you going to grow your business, capture market share and increase long term productivity as a result of the project? 

Explain: 

• your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be extending or establishing your market position 

• your target customers or end users 

• why your target customers or end users will be incentivised to use or buy your product, including, for infrastructure, how you will ensure that vessels are incentivised to use this 

• your route to market, including further development in the UK 

• your market exploitation strategy, including customer segmentation, your plan to make sales to your initial market, your growth plans and any barriers to entry and how you will overcome them 

• who the competitors are, how you will manage this challenge and make it clear why the outputs of this project put your consortia partners in a strong position to win in your target market segments 

• the potential benefits from export of the technology

• how you are going to profit from the innovation, including increased revenues or cost reduction 

• how the innovation will affect your productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term 

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

• your strategy for targeting the other markets you have identified during or after the project 

Your answer can be up to 800 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

Question 15. Jobs and investment

What impact will this project have on jobs and investment in the UK? How have you evidenced this? 

You must:

• describe the impacts on jobs and investment in the UK that you forecast will directly result from this project

• clarify if the impacts are local, regional or national

• cover both jobs created and jobs safeguarded, and both research and development and capital investment

• describe the nature of the skills associated with jobs created or safeguarded

• cover any jobs and investment that are the result of business expansion or post project R&D and manufacturing activity that is directly related to the project

• explain why your forecasts are realistic, considering the market potential of your technology

• explain your calculations and the assumptions you have made, where estimates are provided

• for any safeguarded jobs, explain and provide evidence to show that these jobs would be lost without government funding for this project

 You must submit one appendix with your evidence and details of your calculation methods to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom. 

Your answer can be up to 1000 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

Question 16. Wider impacts

What wider impacts might this project have outside the project team?

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

• the public 

• external parties 

• customers 

• others in the supply chain 

• broader industry 

• the UK economy 

Describe and, where possible, provide estimates of: 

• any expected impacts on UK government priorities including economic growth around the UK and boosting productivity

• any expected regional impacts of the project 

• the potential benefits to the UK from export of the technology

• how you will anchor intellectual property (IP) generated by the project in the UK and how this IP will be exploited for the benefit of the UK economy in the future 

• how the project provides the UK with a competitive advantage over other countries 

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

• quality of life 

• social inclusion or exclusion 

• education 

• public empowerment 

• health and safety 

• regulations 

• diversity 

Your answer can be up to 800 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

Question 17. Project management

How will you manage your project effectively? 

Explain: 

• the main work packages of your 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, including activities to secure all required resources, permits and licences, permissions, equipment and facilities to deploy the solution and deliver any demonstration in the time required

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

Your answer can be up to 1000 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

Question 18. Risks

What are the main risks for this project? 

Explain: 

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

• the main risks to the timeline for delivery of your build phase until 31 December 2029, when ZEVI 2 funding from Innovate UK will stop

• the main risks for the timeline related to the three year demonstration period

• how you will mitigate these risks

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

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

• how you will manage risks to provide a realistic timing plan for demonstration, for example, consider how stakeholder delays, business peak periods and seasonal challenges may impact project delivery, integration and testing activities 

• the key limitations and uncertainties associated with any assumptions being made about the future commercial demand for your product, including any assumptions being made about future regulation 

You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom. 

Your answer can be up to 800 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

Question 19. Knowledge sharing and clean maritime market development

How will this project enhance the UK’s position as a world leader in clean maritime technology through shared learning, dissemination and knowledge exchange? 

Describe: 

• what processes you will adopt for ensuring that lessons are learned across the clean maritime sector, including input from stakeholders and potential customers

• how you will ensure that your project takes account of other relevant work, for example, successful and unsuccessful clean maritime projects, previous government funded or EU funded work in the UK, and academic studies

• what knowledge sharing arrangements you will put in place and how you will ensure that information is disseminated effectively, including considerations such as timeliness and means of communication

• what evidence and data will be collected, including how and when this will be done and who will be responsible

• how you will transfer knowledge from any overseas subcontractors to the UK

• the types of information you plan to share with other stakeholders which you have identified

• how your project offers learning and development in relevant clean maritime technologies and enables research and innovation across the wider supply chain

• the scalability and replicability of your project, and how you will build on experience to support future market development and cost reduction

Your answer can be up to 600 words long.

Question 20. Added value

How will this public funding help you to accelerate or enhance your approach to developing your project towards commercialisation? What impact would this award have on the organisations involved? Why is public funding needed for the project to go ahead? 

Explain: 

• how essential is public funding in determining whether this project will go ahead

• why your project would not go ahead to its proposed scope and timing without public funding

• what advantages would public funding offer your project, for example: appeal to investors, more partners, reduced risk or a faster route to market

• the likely impact of the project outcomes on the organisations involved

• why your project cannot be funded internally or through other private sources and summarise any business case comparison with or without grant funding

• what other routes of investment or means of support you have already engaged with and why they were not suitable

• how any existing or potential investment or support will be used in conjunction with the grant funding

• what your project would look like without public funding

• how this project will reduce your need for public funding in the future

• how this project would change the R&D activities of all the organisations involved

You can submit one appendix with your evidence to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your answer can be up to 800 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

Question 21. Costs and value for money

How much will the funded project costs be and how do they represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer? 

In terms of your project goals, explain: 

• the total eligible project costs and the grant you are requesting, for both research and development costs and capital costs 

• the amount of grant funding required for capital purchases related to vessels and if any vessels require additional funding due to their cost or usage, why is this needed

• the amount of grant funding required for capital purchases related to infrastructure and if any infrastructure requires additional funding due to the cost or usage, why is this needed

• how many vessels or how much infrastructure your project could fund without this grant funding

• how many vessels or how much infrastructure your project could fund, if grant funding for capital costs was limited to 50%

• if the project requires funding for capital costs at rates above 50%, why this is needed

• how you have evidenced the funding will not reduce the total cost of vessel operations significantly below the cost of conventionally fuelled operations

• how each partner will finance their contributions to your project and the expected timeline for raising any match funding required

• how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer, including how the project represents the optimal use of public resources to achieve its objectives

• 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 your project 

• any overseas subcontracting and materials costs including which UK suppliers you approached and why they couldn’t be used 

You can submit one appendix with your evidence to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your answer can be up to 1000 words long and must include robust supporting evidence.

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 an overview on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance. Eligible Capital costs are explained within the application. You can also view our application finances video.

4. Project Impact

This section is not scored but will provide background to your project.

Each partner must complete the Project Impact questions before being able to submit the application.

More information can be found in our Project Impact guidance and by viewing our Impact Management Framework video.

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by five independent assessors based on the content of your application and their skills or expertise relevant to your project. All of the scores awarded will count towards the total score used to make the funding decision unless you are notified otherwise.

You can find out more about our assessment process in the General Guidance.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) may provide factual context to assessors around the complex regulatory environment in the UK’s maritime sector. The MCA role is purely advisory and they will not score applications nor provide assessors with guidance on how to score applications. The independent assessors retain decision making responsibility over scoring throughout the assessment process.

In addition, the National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) will also provide additional contextual information on the capability of the UK shipbuilding sector and areas of technical innovation during the application process.

Your submitted application will be assessed against these criteria:

ZEVI 2 - Assessor guidance for applicants (strand 1 (opens in a new window)

Interviews

If your application passes the first stage of assessment you may be invited to attend an interview, where you must give a presentation. Your interview will take place in person at a designated location. The interviews will be held between 23 November 2026 and 4 December 2026.

If you require reasonable adjustments for your interview, we recommend you contact us within three working days of receiving your invite to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the interview.

Before the interview and by the deadline stated in the invitation email, you:

• must send a list of who will attend the interview

• must send your interview presentation slides

• can send a written response to the assessors’ feedback

List of attendees

Agree the list with your consortium. Up to nine people from your project can attend, ideally one person from each organisation. They must all be available on all published interview dates. We are unable to reschedule slots once allocated.

Presentation slides

Your interview presentation must:

• use Microsoft PowerPoint

• be no longer than 40 minutes

• have no more than 41 slides

• not include any video or embedded web links

You cannot change the presentation after you submit it or bring any additional materials to the interview.

Written response to assessor feedback

This is optional and is an opportunity to answer the assessors’ concerns. It can:

• be up to 10 A4 pages in a single PDF or Word document

• include charts or diagrams

Interview

After your presentation the panel will spend 60 minutes asking questions, with an additional 15 minutes if required by the assessors. You will be expected to answer based on the information you provided in your application form, presentation and the response to feedback.

After your interview

The panellists will individually score your application and these will be averaged for your overall interview score. This score will supersede the one you received from initial assessment unless stated otherwise in the competition brief. We will notify you whether you have been successful or not by email and you will receive feedback on your interview within a week of notification.

Background and further information

UK SHORE and ZEVI

The UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme was announced by the Department for Transport to focus on accelerating the technology necessary to decarbonise the maritime sector.

Since 2021, the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme in the DfT has been allocated £708 million of funding to develop and support R&D of clean maritime technologies.

In September 2025, it was announced that a £448 million of R&D investment for UK SHORE will be made available between 2026 and 2030 to build on the successes of the programme to date and to support the delivery of the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy.

The UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme aims to accelerate the technologies required to decarbonise the UK’s maritime sector through research and development (R&D) and capture the associated economic growth opportunities by cementing the UK as a place for maritime innovation.

UK SHORE includes the flagship Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure competitions, which provides match funding to support the design, development and long term demonstration of innovative clean maritime technologies across a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRLs).

ZEVI Round 1 allocated over £77 million to 10 projects across the UK to deliver long term demonstrations of clean maritime solutions. This competition, ZEVI 2, is the latest round of ZEVI and will continue to build on the success of the previous round.

Successful projects from this competition will be expected to support key transport decarbonisation events in the UK and in UK Government led international initiatives, including initiatives around these events and communications activity.

Innovate UK

Innovate UK is delivering this competition in partnership with the Department for Transport and this is part of a wider set of investments across transport.

Working with our partners, Innovate UK are investing to accelerate innovation across Aerospace, Road, Rail and Maritime. Our work covers key themes including net zero and future transport opportunities presented by new technologies, for example, autonomy. We aim to tackle practical challenges seen every day in the transport system.

This is aligned to our Transport Vision 2050 which we have published after extensive engagement with UK industry and stakeholders. You can read the UK Transport Vision 2050 and contribute to the debate.

To find out more about what we do across our transport programmes you can review the Innovation in transport information page.

Impacts and evaluation

The Department for Transport and Innovate UK will work with projects awarded grants or contracts, to implement an Impact and Evaluation framework. Your project will be required to collect and report key metrics and data as specified by the programme and in line with evaluation frameworks from Innovate UK and DfT.

This will include the collection of evidence and counterfactual data at the start, end and during the project to support impact and attribution claims. Failure to provide data may result in a successful project being suspended or terminated.

You may be required to support monitoring and evaluation activities being conducted by Innovate UK and the Department for Transport and any third party evaluators contracted to them. For example, this may involve involvement in primary research, such as surveys, interviews and focus groups, or follow-up discussions concerning data supplied by yourself to aid interpretation, at an agreed reporting schedule

You will be briefed on the specific metrics and evidence following notification of your award. For planning, forecasting and budgeting purposes, each organisation within a consortium will be expected to allocate a minimum of twelve working days to supporting this requirement over the life of the project.

You will also be asked to respond periodically to further requests, following your project’s conclusion, recognising Innovate UK’s obligations and the benefits of evaluating impact over time.

Further guidance on the requirements for engaging with and providing the evidence required to support the evaluation of the scheme will be provided to successful projects. Successful projects will be expected to fully comply with this guidance.

Successful projects and operators will also be required to engage with third party contractors appointed by DfT and Innovate UK who are independently evaluating the technical aspects of the ZEVI 2 programme.

This is expected to include:

• vessel data collection: supporting contractors to collect continuous raw data from all vessels involved in ZEVI projects

• infrastructure data collection: support contractors in collecting raw data associated with infrastructure usage, efficiency, up-time, maintenance and business model performance

• infrastructure deployment: detailing the cost of equipment, cost of installation, cost of grid connections, duration of deployment and the cost and duration of work related to your distribution network operator (DNO)

• financial: vessel purchase or build costs and all operational costs to determine the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

• access to vessel operators and drivers to determine factors such as user acceptance and differences in operating zero and near zero GHG emission vessels compared to current vessels

• data from your application and project review meetings

• evaluation and dissemination activities

• additional monitoring and evaluation requirements once the full scope of the technical evaluation has been confirmed, and these will be confirmed with you

For planning purposes, an example set of data metrics can be found at the end of this section. The final metrics will be confirmed with you.

Innovate UK and DfT are aware that certain data will be confidential and commercially sensitive and our contractor will work collaboratively with you to define an acceptable approach. To meet programme objectives, including dissemination of learning across the sector, your project must supply agreed data, but it will be aggregated or anonymised where it is marked as confidential. Data will be stored confidentially and in compliance with GDPR legislation.

Your project is not required to fund this evaluation activity, but the evaluation activity will require access to vessels, drivers, suppliers, and stakeholders on an ongoing basis throughout the project. In some limited cases and by agreement, the evaluation contractors may require access to vessels and infrastructure when they would typically be undergoing operational duties.

Funding is contingent on your project formally accepting a mutually agreed data collection and demonstration evaluation contract and complying with it throughout the project.

ZEVI2 tech data v0.1.pdf (opens in a new window)

Briefing recording and slides

Briefing recording and slides will be available to download here after the briefing event.

What happens if you receive a grant offer

If you have passed your initial assessment and have received an email with a grant offer, you will be asked to complete the project setup process on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS). Watch our video on what steps are there before a project starts.

We will ask for information that will allow us to undertake mandatory checks on your organisation and the eligibility of your costs, as well as review the documentation for your project.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your project's dedicated IFS Set Up portal, where we gather the information required to set up your project, for example your bank details. Watch our video on how successful applicants receive their funding.

If your application is unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.

Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.

Find a project partner

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect.

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK Business Growth service

Innovate UK Business Growth helps innovation focused businesses make the best strategic choices and access the right resources, in order to grow and ultimately achieve scale.

Visit the service’s website to learn about how you might benefit as a winner.

Protecting your innovation

A Secure Innovation campaign has been developed to help founders and leaders of innovative startups protect their technology, competitive advantage, and reputation.

This was developed by UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK, Department for Transport (DfT), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) (each an ‘agency’).

Any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use.

This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to DfT, MCA and the NSO, and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:

• the information stated on the application, including the personal details of all applicants

• scoring and feedback on the application

• information received during the management and administration of the grant, such as Monitoring Service Provider reports and Independent Accountant Reports

Innovate UK may also share any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application with Innovate UK’s national and regional UK third parties and partners who may contact you. For more information see how we handle grant applicant and grant holder data.

Innovate UK, DfT, MCA and the NSO are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, Innovate UK Business Connect, DfT, MCA and the NSO will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.

Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK Business Connect Privacy Policy

DfT’s Privacy Policy

MCA’s Privacy Policy

NSO’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

Contact us

If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Innovate UK or any of our partners will not tolerate abusive language in any written or verbal correspondence, applications, social media or any other form that might affect staff.