Over EUR 20 M for ‘blue growth’ innovations. Another group of companies will be supported by Norway Grants

Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) has announced the results of the second call for proposals in the Blue Growth grant co-financed from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. The call budget has been doubled to EUR 21.3 M which will support 20 projects out of the 136 applications submitted.

The Blue Growth call was addressed to micro-, small and medium enterprises. Its objective was to increase the competitiveness of companies operating on inland or sea waters or their immediate surrounding. That was to be achieved by implementation of innovative processes, products, services or solutions which contribute to company development, particularly to an income, profit or employment increase. Projects under this scheme might simultaneously contribute to pollution reduction in the sea or inland waters or their immediate surrounding.

The original budget amount in this second call was EUR 9,35 M, but it has been more than doubled, thanks to which 20 instead of 8 projects can now be co-financed. The next 40 out of 60 positively assessed projects are at the reserve list.

– As many as 17 of the 20 projects recommended for support have a project partner from Norway, the Donor State. It is worth noting that such projects had a chance of obtaining additional points during the assessment process. Most of the partnership projects are more innovative, financially feasible and better prepared than the call average. The awarded projects most often concern manufacturing activities (boats, floating structures, metal equipment), tourism and construction investments – commented Dariusz Budrowski, President of Polish Agency for Enterprise Development.

Some examples of successful projects include ecological yacht charter in the area of Great Masurian Lakes, the development of a hydrogen refuelling station for sea vessels, and removing phosphates from surface waters by biotechnological microcapsules.

Co-financing under the Blue Growth grant scheme covers up to 80% of the project costs, and can reach EUR 2 M. Activities eligible for funding are primarily the purchase of fixed assets (such as machines and equipment), and construction works and materials, inlcuding construction, extension or modernisation of ports. Other eligible costs may concern the purchase of intangible assets (such as software), consulting services or R&D works.

The list of projects recommended for support is available on page „Wyniki i archiwum” . All the applicants may check the present status of their projects by logging into the PARP system at https://lsi-fn.parp.gov.pl/.

The Blue Growth grant scheme is financed from the NMF 2014–2021 under ‘Business Development and Innovation’ programme. More about the call.