Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure 2: Alternative Fuels — UK Grant Guide 2026

Innovate UK and the Department for Transport (DfT) are running the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure 2: Alternative Fuels competition. It is an open, UK business-led grant competition for substantial clean-maritime projects. The official opportunity page says UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million. The alternative-fuels strand is for the development and build of vessels using zero or near-zero greenhouse-gas-emission fuels, together with the port refuelling infrastructure needed to operate them.

This is a live 2026 competition. The closing deadline is 16 September 2026 at 11:00am UK time. The deadline is a hard cutoff: the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) says an application may be reopened before the cutoff, but it must be resubmitted before the competition closes. Treat the time as a submission deadline, not as a target for finishing a first draft.

At a glance

What the competition is intended to fund

The wider ZEVI 2 programme covers alternative fuels, electric power, and energy-efficiency technologies. This page concerns only the Alternative Fuels strand. The official brief says that strand will fund the development and build of innovative alternative-fuel vessels and accompanying port refuelling infrastructure. A proposal should therefore connect the vessel technology to a credible operating setting and the shoreside systems that make the use case possible.

The competition defines maritime broadly. In-scope activity can involve commercial or pleasure vessels and supporting infrastructure used to transport people or goods by water, or to perform activities at offshore installations and on inland waterways. Infrastructure can be onshore or offshore and can include systems at ports, harbours, marinas, inland waterways, or wind farms. Existing or planned infrastructure may be used where it is compatible with the demonstration, but funded infrastructure must be accessible to other operators by appointment at a suitable market rate and must be extensively used by vessels.

For this competition, an alternative fuel is a zero or near-zero greenhouse-gas-emission fuel. The IFS brief uses a well-to-wake fuel-intensity threshold of no more than 19.0 grams of carbon-dioxide equivalent per megajoule. That calculation combines emissions from fuel production and distribution with emissions from operating the vessel. A proposal should explain its fuel pathway and provide the evidence behind its emissions calculation rather than treating a fuel label as proof of compliance.

The central theme is a new-build or retrofit vessel using an alternative fuel, or a hybrid-electric and alternative-fuel vessel, with accompanying refuelling infrastructure. Onboard fuel-cell and combustion technologies can be part of the proposal. Fossil fuel use must be limited to pilot fuel where it is relevant to an alternative-fuel project. The brief excludes projects focused on conventional fossil-fuel powertrains, non-methanol biofuels except in the specified secondary or pilot-fuel circumstances, synthetic-fuel production and use except for zero or near-zero-emission methanol, ammonia, and hydrogen fuels, military applications, submarines, and projects that duplicate existing innovation.

Eligibility and consortium structure

The lead applicant must be a UK registered business of any size. The lead must also be, or collaborate with, a UK registered ship owner, manufacturer, or operator, and be, or collaborate with, a UK registered infrastructure owner or operator. Examples in the official brief include ports, harbours, marinas, inland waterway authorities, and wind farms. Trust ports and municipal ports are treated as businesses for this purpose.

This is not a solo application. The lead and at least one other organisation must apply for funding, enter their costs, explain why the collaboration is needed, and describe how it is structured. Other eligible funded partners can include UK registered businesses, academic institutions, charities, not-for-profit organisations, public sector organisations, and research and technology organisations. Academic institutions cannot lead or work alone.

Non-funded partners can also participate. They may be based in the UK, the European Union, or elsewhere, and can contribute from their own resources. Overseas subcontractors are allowed only with a clear case explaining why a UK subcontractor cannot do the work; cheaper overseas delivery by itself is not enough. Each partner has to be invited into IFS by the lead, accept the invitation, and complete its own costs and Project Impact questions.

There are also limits on repeat participation. A business can lead only one application across all three ZEVI 2 strands. If it leads an application, it can collaborate or subcontract on two further applications across ZEVI 2 and the related Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition 7. An organisation that is not leading can collaborate or subcontract on any number of those applications, but the proposal must still show that the available team and resources can deliver every live project.

Project size, funding, and timing

Total eligible project costs must be between £6 million and £60 million. The grant request cannot exceed £30 million for the project, and no more than £20 million can be allocated to a single participant. The remaining cost must be financed by the organisations receiving the grant or through other eligible arrangements described in the application.

For commercial or economic research and development, the maximum funding rate depends on organisation size and the stage of work. For industrial research, the published limits are up to 70% for micro or small organisations, 60% for medium-sized organisations, and 50% for large organisations. For experimental development, the limits are up to 45%, 35%, and 25% respectively. Capital costs for eligible vessels and infrastructure can receive up to 80% grant for the funded period, subject to the detailed rules, intervention limits, and value-for-money case. Applicants should request the minimum public funding needed to make the project viable.

The project must start by 1 April 2027. Grant funding must be claimed by 31 December 2029, and all funded vessels and infrastructure must be in operation by that point. The required demonstration is separate from the funded build period: it must last at least three years, operate in a representative real-world environment, and end by 31 December 2032. Successful projects must finance that demonstration without further grant support from this competition. The application therefore needs a credible plan for fuel or energy costs, maintenance, staffing, training, permits, ownership, operating responsibility, and the money that will sustain the demonstration.

The demonstration should reflect a full-scale commercial operating profile. Projects with vessels intended for sea service must include appropriate three-year demonstrations at sea and comply with the relevant certification rules before proceeding to sea. Projects confined to inland or categorised waters can demonstrate there. Demonstrations should take place in UK waters wherever possible; any international operation must be a normal and necessary part of the vessel’s commercial profile, originate in the UK, visit the UK frequently, and be justified in terms of UK benefit. International infrastructure is not funded.

What a strong proposal must prove

A technically interesting vessel is not enough. The proposal must show that the team can build or retrofit the vessel and accompanying infrastructure in time, operate it safely, and collect evidence that matters to customers and regulators. The IFS brief expects applicants to:

• demonstrate significant well-to-wake greenhouse-gas reductions and address relevant air-pollution or other environmental effects;
• include representative end users, such as vessel operators and port or harbour authorities, as integral project partners;
• show significant market potential and a route to commercialising the technology for UK value;
• provide a realistic build or retrofit plan that addresses supply-chain, regulatory, commercial, and construction risks;
• operate vessels in varied locations, sea states, and duty cycles that reflect a full-scale commercial profile;
• work with organisations responsible for regulation, safety, and incident response;
• provide training, repair, and maintenance arrangements for the full demonstration;
• make funded infrastructure available to other operators at a suitable market rate; and
• explain how intellectual property created by the project will be anchored in the UK and exploited for the benefit of the UK supply chain.

The proposal also needs an evidence plan. During the demonstration, the project must monitor technical and economic performance, greenhouse-gas and other environmental impacts, use of the vessels and infrastructure, and lessons learned. Data and findings must be shared with Innovate UK, DfT, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and appointed evaluation contractors. The source says commercially sensitive data will be handled confidentially, but agreeing to the programme’s data collection and evaluation arrangements is a condition of funding.

How to apply through IFS

Applications are made through the Innovation Funding Service competition overview. Before starting, the lead should read the IFS guidance and confirm that the project is in the Alternative Fuels strand. Innovate UK warns that a project submitted to the wrong strand will not be transferred for assessment.

The practical sequence is:

1. Form the consortium, identify the ship owner, manufacturer or operator and the infrastructure owner or operator, then invite each partner into IFS.
2. Agree the target vessel, fuel pathway, refuelling system, real-world operating environment, ownership model, and demonstration responsibilities.
3. Complete the Project Details section with the title, start date, duration, research category, project summary, public description, and scope explanation. The project summary, public description, and scope answers can each be up to 400 words.
4. Answer every application question. Questions cover the applicant location, animal testing, permits and licences, international collaboration, export control, trusted research, end users, business need, technical approach, demonstration, environmental impact, team, market, exploitation, UK economic benefit, management, risk, knowledge sharing, added value, and costs.
5. Complete the Finances section. Each organisation enters its own project costs, organisation details, and funding information. Academic partners must use the Transparent Approach to Costing method described in the brief.
6. Have every partner complete its Project Impact questions, accept the terms and conditions, and mark its assigned sections complete.
7. Review the application for eligibility, scope, costs, permissions, and evidence. Do not place website addresses or other URLs in application answers; the IFS instructions say doing so can make the application ineligible.
8. Submit before the deadline. If the lead reopens the application to make changes, it must be resubmitted before 11:00am UK time on 16 September 2026.

Supporting appendices are permitted for several questions. They must be PDF files no larger than 10MB and, where specified, no more than two A4 pages and legible at 100% zoom. Prepare a project plan or Gantt chart, risk register, technical diagrams, emissions calculations, demonstration evidence, and team information in the format requested by each question. The official brief does not ask for a generic business plan in place of these answers; it asks for evidence tied to the proposed vessel, infrastructure, users, costs, risks, and operating profile.

Assessment and follow-through

Five independent assessors review applications against the published criteria. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency may provide factual context on the UK maritime regulatory environment, while the National Shipbuilding Office may provide context on UK shipbuilding capability and technical innovation. Those bodies do not replace the independent assessment decision.

Applicants who pass the initial assessment may be invited to an in-person interview. The interview period runs from 23 November 2026 to 4 December 2026. The presentation can be no longer than 40 minutes and can contain no more than 41 slides; up to nine project representatives may attend. The official timeline says applicants are notified on 4 January 2027. A successful consortium should be ready to explain its build readiness, demonstration finance, safety case, emissions evidence, and route to market under questioning.

Awardees also have continuing obligations. They must work with Innovate UK, DfT, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the National Shipbuilding Office, and evaluation contractors; supply agreed technical, operational, financial, and impact data; support dissemination of lessons; and follow the project setup process in IFS. Failure to engage with required evaluation can lead to suspension or withdrawal of funding.

Final view

This is a substantial opportunity for a consortium that already understands the practical job of putting an alternative-fuel vessel into service. The fund can support a large development and build programme, but the proposal must carry the project through the difficult parts: fuel supply, port access, certification, crew training, maintenance, customer use, data collection, and three years of operation after grant-funded work ends.

The strongest next step is to test the project against the official eligibility rules before spending time polishing prose. Can the team meet the £6 million minimum eligible cost? Is there a UK registered lead, a vessel end user, and an infrastructure end user? Can the consortium finance and operate the demonstration after 31 December 2029? Can it quantify well-to-wake emissions and explain the fuel-intensity evidence? If any answer is uncertain, resolve it with the relevant partner or Innovate UK before submission.

For the live deadline, scope, application questions, funding limits, and supporting-information rules, use the official UKRI opportunity page and the linked Innovation Funding Service competition.