FLOWB

Key Features

Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE Catapult) are pleased to offer grant funding to UK Enterprises who are developing new and innovative technologies within the Floating Offshore Wind Supply Chain. This document outlines the scope and guidance for prospective applicants.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £1.5 million

Opens: 15th Apr 2024

Closes: 27th Jun 2024

! This scheme is now closed

Overview

ORE Catapult will provide a total of £1.5million to between 3 and 5 UK businesses developing new and innovative technologies which are being developed for the benefit of the Floating Offshore Wind Supply Chain Industry. ORE Catapult has worked with the Innovate UK and the Advanced Research Project Agency Energy (ARPA-E) to identify collaboration opportunities with Atlantis Phase 2 Awardees:

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

• University of Maine (UoM)

Scope

The aim of this competition is to aid UK businesses to develop innovative technologies and provide opportunities for international collaboration and export opportunities. Your proposal must address one of the following areas of interest for our US partners and the UK Floating Offshore Wind Industry:

• Advanced Controls and Conditional Health Monitoring

• Novel Mooring Line Design, Configuration and Materials

• Low Carbon Concrete Manufacturing and Assembly for Concrete Floating Foundations

• Innovative Dynamic Cable Designs

For the purposes of this funding call Innovation can be defined as a new or improved product or process (or combination thereof) that differs from the previous products or processes and that has not been made available to potential users (product) or brought into use (process).

Collaboration

ORE Catapult expects all applicants of the grant funding competition to work collaboratively, in some capacity, with one of the following US Enterprises:

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory – USFLOWT 10 Project Team

• University of Maine – VolturnUS+

The above partners will not be treated as Project Partners or receive any funding from ORE Catapult or Innovate UK.

Projects proposed with any other US organisation/Entity shall not be considered for this funding call.

Eligibility

Your Project must:

• Have a total grant funding request between £300,000 and £500,000

• Start by the 1st of June 2024

• End by 31st of December 2025

• Carry out the majority of the activities from within the UK.

• Intend to exploit the results of the project from or in the UK.

To apply for a direct grant from this competition, your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. Applications from academic institutions, charities, not for profits, public sector organisation or a research and technology organisation (RTO) will not be accepted.

Non-funded partners:

Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example non-UK businesses. Their costs will count towards the total project costs. This does not include the US partners outlined above. It could, for example, include UK Floating Offshore Wind Project Developers.

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 could not use suppliers 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.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and the total subcontractor budget must not exceed more than 35% of the total project cost.

Number of Applications:

You may only submit one application per organisation. Where an organisation submits 2 applications both will be rejected.

Subsidy Control

Overview of Subsidy Control in FLOWB Programme

ORE Catapult will distribute the funding through the Research, Development Innovation (RDI) Streamlined Subsidy Scheme (“RDI Streamlined Route”). All projects shall be compliant with the RDI Streamlined Route. For this grant funding call, ORE Catapult will fund projects that are compliant with Category 2: Industrial Research and Experimental Development Projects. For more information on the RDI Streamlined Route, please see the UK Governments Guidance.

Additional 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 always make sure that the funding awarded to you is compliant with all current Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

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

Exclusions

Projects we will not fund ORE Catapult will not fund projects that:

• Are not delivered by a UK business

• Have already started

• Would be able to start without FLOWB Grant Funding

• Have previously started and failed to complete

• Have been proposed by a financially ailing business

• Have been proposed by companies that cannot clearly demonstrate a business case or market opportunity, including an export strategy.

Funding Costs

Up to £1.5 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a direct grant and distributed in accordance with the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

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.

For feasibility studies and industrial research projects, you could 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 could 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, please 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 Expenditures

The below costs are eligible for funding through the FLOWB Programme. The funding will only be given where the costs are incurred as direct result on the activity of the project and are wholly for the benefit of the project results. The funding is limited to the project term. Funded costs for the FLOWB Programme include:

• Personnel Costs

• Indirect Costs (20% of Personnel Costs)

• Equipment • Subcontracting

• Travel and Subsistence

• Other goods, works and services

• ‘Other Costs’

All costs must be in compliance with category 2 of the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Route. The total sub-contracting costs should not exceed more than 35% of the total project costs.

Interested in applying for this competition?

Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.