US Offering Funding for Green Vessel Demonstration Projects
The United States is offering up to $1.5 million to aid projects that demonstrate low carbon energy and technologies on board domestic commercial vessels.
The Maritime Administration (MARAD) in June issued a request for proposals (RFP) under its Maritime Environmental and Technical Assistance (META) program seeking single or multiple projects that demonstrate low carbon fuels or technology applications for propulsion or auxiliary systems used on vessels in the U.S. fleet.
Applicants must be able to verify low carbon operations of the technology during the project demonstration, whether by fuel use data, in-situ emissions testing, power meter readings or other methods. Projects must be able to be completed within a three-year timeline. Applications are due by August 28, 2023.
MARAD said it will provide funding through a cooperative agreement for the execution of the demonstration project, and that collaborative partnerships with other entities such as private maritime industry, ports/terminals, class societies, non-governmental organizations (NGO) and state or local governments are encouraged.
During the project, the awardee will provide MARAD with regular updates and interim reports associated with major project milestones. Upon completion of the demonstration, the awardee is required to provide a detailed report of the project that will be publicly available and describes the technology, the application of the technology, low carbon verification, cost/benefits, considerations of alternatives (if applicable), general power management system considerations for this application, regulatory and administrative hurdles, and other key lessons learned.
Over the past several years, MARAD’s META program has been partnering with government agencies, industry and academia on efforts to reduce vessel and port emissions, as well as efforts to support the use of low carbon energy sources. MARAD said it has been seeing increased requests from industry to support deployment of new and alternative energy technologies.
