Challenge 1
Develop innovative solutions for capturing GHGs on naval ships to help the Royal Canadian Navy achieve the objectives outlined in the Department of National Defence’s new Climate & Sustainability Strategy.
Climate change is having real impacts, and every organization needs to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Policies and regulations, such as the Canadian Government’s NetZero 2050 target, are coming in full force and marine and defence have an important role. Last year, marine vessels made up 19% of the fleet emissions of the Canadian Armed Forces National Safety & Security fleets.
This Challenge involves designing and demonstrating practical options for tools and methods to capture and account for GHG emissions from ships.
Award: $175,000
Rules & Requirements
An eligible applicant can submit one proposal per challenge. Applications can be submitted in English or French.
Deadline: April 14, 2024 at 5:00 pm ADT
The application must include:
- Description of solution & impact
- Organization capability and resources (financial statement submission will be required for the winner)
- Experience with emerging GHG capture technologies
- Level of innovation of proposed solution
Eligibility
COVE’s Naval Technology Innovation Challenge is Pan-Atlantic in scope and open to commercial and non-commercial organizations.
- The challenge is open to incorporated businesses in Atlantic Canada
- Small and medium-sized businesses, as well as Indigenous organizations
- Post-secondary institutions and other organizations can apply only if they partner with small or medium-sized businesses or Indigenous groups
Evaluation Process
The evaluation will consist of a panel review of all applications based on weighted values per category (solution fit 25%, impact 20%, expertise 15%, resources 25%, innovation 5%, timeline 10%).
The selection panel is comprised of members from COVE, Thales, National Research Council, ACOA, and an industry partner. After applications close, the selection panel will score with an assessment package. Once completed, scores will be combined and a final meeting of the panelists to review results and agree on a selected company will take place. The winner will be announced once a selection is made. COVE will work with the applicant prior to sharing any information publicly. Financial statements must be submitted by the winner.
Challenge Description
Challenge #1: Design and demonstrate practical options for tools and methods to capture and account for GHG emissions from ships.
This Challenge involves designing and demonstrating practical options for tools and methods to capture and account for GHG emissions from ships.
Anticipated solutions must meet, or partially meet, the following criteria:
- Capture GHG emissions (primarily CO2, but also advantageous to capture CO and NOx, etc.) from ship’s diesel engine emissions through absorption or other technologies
- Store captured CO2 securely onboard a ship until it can be offloaded in port
- Quantify the performance of capture and storage in real-time
- Be feasibly installed and maintained on naval vessels
The project will include a practical demonstration at a shore-based test location (pending confirmation) to determine the technical viability and merit of the engineering solution. Solutions are expected to develop an initial narrative of the ‘concept of operations’ for how such a solution would work in practice.
Additional considerations:
- Technologies of TRL level 5 or higher are expected
- The solution must have the potential to be a viable solution which could demonstrably capture GHG emissions on the platform themselves – carefully mitigating any potential burden on the ship’s staff for additional manual tasks or to in-service support contractors. And ideally, a cost-neutral fuel consumption.
- Bidders should demonstrate awareness of government security, clearance requirements and associated timelines if the exchange of engineering data is a necessary part of the proposal
Thales’ Goals:
- Play a leadership role in the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) and Joint Support Ships (JSS), also known as AJISS, program
- Leverage the unique expertise and velocity of start-ups / SMEs and their ecosystem
- Accelerate the AJISS innovation roadmap by proposing the resulting solution as a Value Engineering Change Proposal to the AJISS customer
Milestones:
After the proposal evaluation, selection, and award phase, the project milestones will include quick research/analysis, design review, prototype construction, practical presentation, and project report analysis. The project report will include engineering factors and a business case for potential future work. A schedule will be agreed upon and issued after the successful award.