INSIGHTS / News

SETsquared Scale-Up member Ecomar Propulsion has secured its third funding triumph from the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

Ecomar is the lead member in a consortium for a £2m R&D project with global multi-national, SERCO and the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth to rapidly electrify and de-carbonise highly polluting marine workboats using powerful electric engines using only batteries and hydrogen as fuels.

Ecomar research, develop and produce high performance electric and hybrid marine engines which will be launched on the market in 2022. The two main products are inboard engines for commercial vessels, and outboard engines, with plans to develop larger hybrid systems for the shipping industry.

The Scale-Up Programme supported this successful bid with three days’ bid review support from a professional consultant.

Anthony Bennett, Senior Executive Director, Ecomar Propulsion said, “We are delighted to have been recognised for this award. The funding will enable us to develop our twin outboard system, a key building block in developing completely clean propulsion systems and our mission for a cleaner marine industry – one of the most polluting industries in the world. SETsquared’s support, as always, has been pivotal in helping us create the right partnerships and succeeding in new funding opportunities.”

This is the third funding success for this clean marine energy company. SETsquared introduced Ecomar to the Centre for Future Clean Mobility at the University of Exeter and provided a professional bid writing resource for its successful application to the Sustainable Innovation Fund grant. This was awarded to conduct a feasibility study for the rapid electrification of marine power systems for commercial marine vessels. Following on from this success, Ecomar secured £876k in funding from the Eureka Global Stars Award, a project aiming to develop its zero emission propulsion systems to the larger sizes required for the global shipping industry. It is a joint collaborative project between Ecomar Propulsion, Singapore-based marine battery supplier Durapower, and The University of Exeter.

The sky is the limit for UK based Ecomar, who continue to develop innovative electric marine engines, and create new partnerships on multiple projects to cut carbon emissions and millions of litres of fuel waste in the maritime industry.

About the Project

The Twin motor, zero emission powertrain for commercial workboats project, is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

Announced in March 2020, and part of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan to position the UK at the forefront of green shipbuilding and maritime technology, the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition is a £20m investment from government alongside a further c.£10mfrom industry to reduce emissions from the maritime sector. The programme is supporting 55 projects across the UK, including projects in Scotland, Northern Ireland and from the South West to the North East of England. As set out in the Clean Maritime Plan (2019), Government funding has been used to support early stage research relating to clean maritime. The programme will be used to support the research, design and development of zero emission technology and infrastructure solutions for maritime and to accelerate decarbonisation in the sector.