North East Offshore Wind Innovation and Demonstration – NEOWIND

No. IDP Funding Call 1 is intended for projects at TRL 4 and above, although TRL 3 projects may be considered in exceptional circumstances. Projects should typically have a proven concept and be ready for further development, testing, and validation.

Businesses must have a genuine operational presence within the North East MSA region. This may include offices, manufacturing facilities, or other physical premises with dedicated employees. Satellite offices and PO box addresses are not eligible.

Match funding must be a financial contribution from the applicant business and may come from revenue, investment, or cash reserves. Match funding cannot be sourced from other grant-funded programmes, such as Innovate UK (IUK).

No. Projects must have a duration of at least 15 months and no more than 21 months. Activities such as dissemination can be incorporated into the project plan to maximise project impact and programme support.

Guidance is provided within the Scope & Guidance document and the Finance & Impact Form. Salary costs should be based on the total cost of employment, including gross salary (less any salary sacrifice), employer National Insurance and pension contributions. Commercial day rates and bonuses are not eligible. Working days should be calculated net of annual leave and bank holidays.

No. However, applicants should refer to the programme guidance, as subcontracting and "other costs" are treated differently. Projects should demonstrate value for money, and excessive outsourcing, particularly where activities could reasonably be undertaken in-house through employment, may be viewed less favourably.

No. Only gross salary costs, including employer National Insurance and pension contributions (less any salary sacrifice), are eligible. Costs can only be claimed once they have been defrayed, meaning the payment has left the business bank account.

Applicants may access ORE Catapult facilities or expertise at standard commercial market rates through normal procurement processes. Any engagement must be arranged via an ODSL subcontract and independently of the programme team. No preferential pricing or additional support can be provided, and ORE Catapult cannot act as a project partner.

The 25% overhead rate applies only to eligible salary costs.

Subcontracting relates to activities or services that cannot reasonably be undertaken in-house, such as specialist testing facilities, external certification, or manufacturing services. Costs that could reasonably be delivered internally, such as project management, should be included under Other Costs. This category also covers eligible expenses that do not fit within another cost heading, such as event attendance fees for dissemination activities.

Yes. While academic institutions cannot apply directly for funding, they may be engaged as subcontractors by successful beneficiary businesses.

Claims are submitted quarterly. At the end of each quarter, businesses submit evidence of all eligible and defrayed expenditure incurred during that period. Following audit and approval, funding is requested from the programme funder and released to businesses at the applicable intervention rate.

No. The programme does not provide advance payments.

Successful businesses will receive up to 15 days of technical support from ORE Catapult industry experts at no cost, this may have an associated subsidy impact through MFA.

Successful applicants progressing to financial due diligence must demonstrate sufficient funding to cover at least the first quarter of project expenditure. Evidence may include cash reserves or other committed funding sources. Applicants must also provide a project cashflow profile showing planned expenditure and corresponding revenue, investment, or cash injections throughout the project.

Yes. Subcontractors specifically named and identified within the application are exempt from procurement requirements. Any subcontractors added or changed after submission will be subject to the procurement processes and thresholds outlined in the programme guidance.

Yes. Letters of support are included within the maximum five-page limit for appendix attachments.

Direct jobs are jobs created as a direct result of the funding, these must be a minimum of 12 months contract and 1 would equal an FTE (min 35 hrs per week). Partial FTEs eg, 0.5 can be included if a part time employee is hired or existing part time staff have their hours increased.

No, match funding must be financial contribution.

The £150-300k range relates to requested grant and not total project value.

Part-time workers gross salary cost should be calculated up the full-time equivalent and then divided by the full-time equivalent working days, multiplied by the days actually worked on the project.