Offshore Energy Research Association of Nova Scotia (OERA) has launched a call for research proposals for tidal energy projects with a specific focus on marine operations cost reduction, and marine animals monitoring.
The OERA will be accepting proposals in both tidal energy development , and offshore petroleum geosciences as per its standard practice for the open call program.
However, for this intake only, the association will only be accepting tidal related proposals that align with the specific targeted knowledge gaps relating to research aimed at improving animal detection in the top 15-meters of the water column in high flow environments.
Also, OERA states, tidal energy projects involving product development that will reduce marine operations costs , are also eligible to apply.
In addition, the open call application process now features two funding streams with increased budge t, with the first supporting projects requesting up to C$25,000 in research funds, while the second has been introduced to support projects requesting a maximum of C$50,000.
Applicants must specify at the on-set of the application process which funding stream they are submitting under, as applicants will be unable to submit to both stream on a particular intake, OERA noted.
Available funding has increased for the ‘stream 1’ part of the call – from C$20,000 per project awarded earlier per project. The competitive process will result in up to four project awards at C$25,000 each for this stream, according to OERA.
The newly introduced ‘stream 2’ will award one project with the funding support of C$50,000, conditional on the project meeting all criteria, OERA said.
The deadline to apply for the call has been set for January 15, 2019.
The primary objective of OERA’s open call program is to sponsor high quality scientific research that will advance Nova Scotia’s offshore energy sector and contribute to building research capacity in-province.
The program has a fixed annual funding cap that supports two open call competitions each year.
The focus of the program is to capture modestly budgeted, shorter duration research projects that align with an OERA research priority area, in either of marine geosciences, or marine renewables with a specific interest in tidal energy.