EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-12 – Real-time, adaptive & innovative energy management for waterborne transport (ZEWT Partnership)

1. Single Market Access

• Access to the world’s largest integrated maritime market (450+ million inhabitants, >23 000 EU-flagged vessels, ~75 000 km inland waterways).

• Harmonised technical standards (e.g., ES-TRIN for IWT, common MRV/ETS rules for maritime) mean results can be commercialised once and sold in all 27 Member States, multiplying ROI vs. fragmented national markets.

• Direct pathway to mandatory uptake through forthcoming EU legislation (FuelEU Maritime, Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation, revised ETS for maritime). Early compliance tools created under the project can quickly become de-facto industry references across the entire Single Market.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

• Consortiums can combine North-Sea digital-shipping pioneers, Mediterranean propulsion innovators, and Danube/Rhine IWT operators, creating a pan-European “living lab” that no single country could replicate.

• Real-time datasets gathered from diverse sea states, climates and regulatory regimes improve AI/ML model robustness and IP value.

• Access to Europe’s maritime clusters (BlueNet, WaterborneTP, ETP4HPC) enables rapid dissemination and uptake by >1 200 SMEs in shipbuilding, component manufacturing and digital services.

3. Alignment with Flagship EU Policies

• European Green Deal & Fit-for-55: Directly tackles 2030 target of –55 % GHG by delivering 5-25 % fuel savings/ship, scalable to save ~17 Mt CO₂e/y EU-wide.

• Digital Europe & the EU Data Act: Generates high-value maritime operational datasets and positions partners to shape European Common Data Spaces for Mobility.

• AI Act & Cyber-Resilience Act: Project can pioneer “trustworthy-by-design” AI for safety-critical maritime applications, influencing future harmonised standards.

• Zero-Emission Waterborne Transport (ZEWT) Partnership: Contributes directly to SRIA KPI of at least 40 % reduction in waterborne emissions by 2030.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits

• Pilot calibration/certification protocols for low-cost sensors can be proposed to EMSA, enabling a single EU certification pathway instead of 27 national schemes.

• Alignment with MARPOL Annex VI and Sulphur Directive supports mutual recognition between EU port-state controls, lowering compliance cost for operators.

• Early engagement with EU classification societies (DNV, BV, Lloyd’s Register) facilitates pan-European type-approval for retrofit packages.

5. Access to Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem

• 4 000+ maritime researchers in EU-funded labs (e.g., MARIN, SINTEF Ocean, CNR-INM) provide test tanks, hardware-in-the-loop rigs and AI expertise.

• Connection to Digital Innovation Hubs & EDIH network accelerates TRL maturation and SME uptake.

• Joint use of EU supercomputing resources (LUMI, LEONARDO) under EuroHPC for high-fidelity vessel simulations.

6. Funding Synergies & Leverage

• Combine Horizon lump-sum grant with:

• Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) – to deploy on TEN-T core ports & corridors.

• LIFE Clean Energy Transition – for post-project market-uptake actions.

• EIB Green Shipping Guarantee & InvestEU – to finance retrofits demonstrated in the project.

• Regional ERDF & Interreg programmes – to extend pilots to cohesion regions (Baltic, Adriatic, Black Sea).

• Creates a financing pipeline from TRL 4-7 (Horizon) to TRL 8-9 (CEF/LIFE) and then scale-up via InvestEU/EIB.

7. EU-Scale Deployment & Impact Potential

• Inland: Rhine-Danube & Seine–Scheldt corridors – up to 15 000 vessels; coastal: short-sea routes linking 329 core ports; deep-sea: 90 % of EU external trade.

• If 20 % of EU fleet adopts EMS over 10 years, potential savings ≈ €6.5 bn fuel cost & 42 Mt CO₂e.

• Supports EU strategic autonomy by reducing fossil-fuel imports and creating exportable digital-maritime solutions (global market ≈ €15 bn by 2030).

8. Strategic EU Value Proposition

• Transforms Europe from rule-taker to rule-maker in digital green shipping standards.

• Strengthens cohesion: tests in low-water Danube segments, cold-climate Baltic, high-traffic Mediterranean, ensuring solutions work for all Member States.

• Demonstrates the power of EU lump-sum funding to de-risk complex cross-border innovation and accelerate green transition in an inherently international sector.

Bottom Line:

Participating consortia gain unparalleled market reach, regulatory influence, and financing leverage that can only be achieved through an integrated EU approach—turning cutting-edge EMS technology into a continent-wide competitive advantage for Europe’s waterborne transport industry.