Demonstrating feasibility and environmental benefits of regenerative ocean farming and boosting algae innovation (Topic 2)
EMFAF Project Grants
Basic Information
- Identifier
- EMFAF-2025-PIA-FLAGSHIP-OCEANFARMING
- Programme
- Regional flagships projects supporting sustainable blue economy in EU sea basins - Smart Specialisation and Regenerative Ocean Farming and Algae Innovation
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- September 26, 2024
- Deadline
- February 18, 2025
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €5,700,000
- Min Grant Amount
- –
- Max Grant Amount
- –
- Expected Number of Grants
- –
- Keywords
- EMFAF-2025-PIA-FLAGSHIP-OCEANFARMINGEMFAF-2025-PIA-FLAGSHIPBlack SeaBlue biotechnologyHabitat and species restoration and rehabilitationMarine EnvironmentMarine Protected Areas/MpasMarine Resource ExploitationMaritime InnovationMediterranean SeaSeaweed / AlgaeSustainable Blue Economy
Description
This call topic aims to support the development of regenerative ocean farming by proving its feasibility and viability and generating knowledge on the environmental benefits also, where possible, by testing these approaches in connection with marine protected areas. It further aims to promote innovation in algae by supporting the development of, and bringing to market, new algae-based products and services, thus offering new green employment opportunities.
This topic specifically targets the EU Member States, notably in sea basins where regenerative ocean farming is not developed, such as the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Eligibility & Conditions
Conditions
Admissibility conditions
Described in section 5 of the call document. Please see also the page limits and conditions on layout set out in the Application Form available in the Submission System.
Eligible countries
Please see section 6 of the call document.
Other eligibility conditions
Please see section 6 of the call document.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
Please see section 7 of the call document.
Evaluation and award
The evaluation and award procedure are set out in section 8 of the call document and in the online manual.
The award criteria, scoring and thresholds are set out in section 9 of the call document.
The indicative timeline for evaluation and signature of grant agreements is set out in section 4 of the call document.
Legal and financial set up of grants
Please see section 10 of the call document.
Call documents
Call for proposals (Call document)
Standard application form (Part A and B) — call-specific application form is available in the Submission System
Detailed estimated budget table (not mandatory at application stage)
Legislative documents
Model Grant Agreements and Funding and Tender portal guidance
Support & Resources
For help related to this call, please contact [email protected] by 11 February 2025.
Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – Submission of proposals.
IT Helpdesk – Contact the IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.
Online Manual – Step-by-step online guide through the Portal processes from proposal preparation and evaluation to reporting on your ongoing project. Valid for all 2021-2027 programmes.
Latest Updates
Launch of four new projects selected under the call for proposals EMFAF-2025-PIA-FLAGSHIP
Please see the 'Projects & Results' tab for information on the two projects selected under this call topic and the following CINEA article for more information on all four projects selected under the EMFAF-2025-PIA-FLAGSHIP call for proposals.
EVALUATION results
Published: 26.09.2024
Deadline: 18.02.2025
Available budget: EUR 5 700 000
In accordance with the call conditions, the evaluation was made looking at the criteria ‘Relevance’, ‘Quality’ and ‘Impact’. The threshold for per criterion was 6 points out of 10. The overall threshold (applying to the sum of the three individual scores) was set at 21 points out of 30.
The results of the evaluation for each topic are as follows:
EMFAF-2025-PIA-FLAGSHIP-I3 (TOPIC 1) | EMFAF-2025-PIA-FLAGSHIP-OCEANFARMING (TOPIC 2) | |
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls) | 16 | 10 |
Number of inadmissible proposals | 1 | 0 |
Number of ineligible proposals | 2 | 0 |
Number of above-threshold proposals | 10 | 5 |
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals (EUR) | 17 026 547.26 | 4 906 077.61 |
Number of proposals retained for funding | 2 | 2 |
Number of proposals in the reserve list | 2 | 2 |
Funding threshold | 26 | 26 |
Number of proposals with scores lower or equal to 30 and higher or equal to 26 | 2 | 2 |
Number of proposals with scores lower or equal to 25.5 and higher or equal to 24 | 3 | 2 |
Number of proposals with scores lower than 24 and higher or equal to 22 | 1 | 1 |
Number of proposals with scores lower than 22 and higher or equal to 21 | 4 | 0 |
Call EMFAF-2025-PIA-FLAGSHIP has closed on the 18th February 2025.
26 proposals have been submitted.
The breakdown per topic is:
- EMFAF-2025-PIA-FLAGSHIP-I3 (Topic 1): 16 proposals
- EMFAF-PIA-2025-FLAGSHIP-OCEANFARMING (Topic 2): 10 proposals
Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in May 2025.
An Info Day on the call for proposals took place on 15 October from 14:30 - 16:45. The recording of the session is available here.
The submission session is now available for: EMFAF-2025-PIA-FLAGSHIP-I3, EMFAF-2025-PIA-FLAGSHIP-OCEANFARMING