Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Rd 2 projects demonstrate impact

Transport accounts for almost a third of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions and maritime is a significant part of this sector.  In this country, 95% of trade by volume is moved by sea and ports bring £2.5bn a year to the economy.

Together with Innovate UK, the Department for Transport (DfT) is working to kickstart R&D into maritime environmental innovation. It is supporting the decarbonisation of the maritime sector through its research and development programme called the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE).

Decarbonising the maritime sector

The Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) is part of the UK SHORE programme and provides match-funding for the design and development of clean maritime solutions towards commercialisation.

DfT has awarded £130m in grant funding across five rounds of the CMDC to innovative projects since March 2021. The second round of the CMDC awarded £12m to 31 projects to undertake feasibility studies and pre-deployment trials. The CMDC Rd 2 Project Overview brochure outlines what each of the projects has achieved since they were funded in 2023.

Covering vessels and infrastructure, the projects include a zero-emission electric powerboat, the investigation of cracked ammonia as a clean power source and a feasibility study into the first hydrogen-powered North Sea crossing.