Nordic Innovation: Green and Competitive Nordic Region project proposals

Nordic Innovation: Green and Competitive Nordic Region project proposals

This page is a historical reference for Nordic Innovation’s Call for project proposals: Green and Competitive Nordic Region. The official call page is closed. Its application deadline was 11 February 2026 at 13:00 CET, and Nordic Innovation later reported that seven projects were selected from 76 applications. No new application window for this same call is announced on Nordic Innovation’s official funding pages as of this review.

The filename describes a possible use case, but this was not a grant reserved for ports or carbon-neutral port infrastructure. It was a broad Nordic consortium call covering two programs: Innovative Solutions for 2030 and Nordic Forward: Resilience and Competitiveness for 2050. A port authority, shipping company, logistics operator, energy provider, technology company, or public body could have proposed a port-related project if it met the call’s cross-border, innovation, implementation, and Nordic-impact requirements. A port theme by itself was not enough.

Because the round has ended and the selected projects have been announced, readers should not treat this page as an open application opportunity. The closed round’s rules remain useful for understanding the type of consortium Nordic Innovation funded and for preparing for a future call, but there is no confirmed future deadline to enter in the metadata. The real closed-cycle deadline remains in the deadline field, while historicalReference = true identifies the page as an archive entry.

What the closed call covered

Nordic Innovation organized the call around two active programs. Innovative Solutions for 2030 sought projects that could speed up the green transition and demonstrate measurable effects by 2030. The official description highlighted new or improved solutions, faster commercialization, market introduction, stronger value chains, circular business models, and green transition in sectors with high climate or environmental impact.

Nordic Forward: Resilience and Competitiveness for 2050 addressed longer-term competitiveness and resilience. Its scope included enabling technologies, deep-tech ventures, data-driven ecosystems, strategic collaboration structures, robust cross-border value chains, security of supply, and solutions to Nordic and global societal challenges. The call also asked applicants to connect their work to the joint Nordic Vision of making the Nordics the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030.

These themes left room for a port-related proposal, but the applicant would have needed to define a concrete Nordic problem and a project that could produce results beyond one facility. Examples of plausible port-relevant framing include coordinated low-emission logistics across several countries, shared data or operating models for maritime supply chains, circular handling of materials, resilient energy or fuel value chains, and technology pilots involving several Nordic ports and industrial partners. Those are examples of fit, not promises that Nordic Innovation had reserved funding for ports.

Funding and co-funding

The closed call had a total budget of NOK 30 000 000. The official page set the requested grant at NOK 2 000 000 to NOK 6 000 000 per project. The grant was not intended to cover the whole project: Nordic Innovation required at least 50% co-funding from project participants, calculated across the project as a whole. Public funding, including the Nordic Innovation grant, could not exceed half of total project costs.

For a simple example, a project requesting NOK 3 000 000 needed at least NOK 3 000 000 in eligible co-funding, producing a project budget of at least NOK 6 000 000. The co-funding could combine partner cash, other non-public contributions used for eligible project costs, and eligible in-kind working hours. The proposal had to demonstrate the composition of that contribution. Nordic Innovation also expected every project partner to contribute something; a partner with zero co-financing would weaken the credibility of the consortium even though the formal percentage was assessed at project level.

The official eligible-cost list included working hours, external services, equipment and material, travel and meeting costs, and communication. Regular operating costs were excluded. In-kind contributions meant working hours directly linked to project activity and calculated using Nordic Innovation’s approved hourly-rate method. Partner-paid travel or accommodation could count as a financial contribution when it was an eligible project cost, but it was not the same thing as in-kind working time. A budget should therefore show which cost is being claimed, which partner pays it, and how it connects to a named activity.

The grant was a poor fit for ordinary administration, routine business operations, a national expansion plan, or a general networking project. It was better suited to a defined implementation effort with a work plan, milestones, accountable partners, measurable outputs, and a credible continuation route after the funded project period.

Who could participate

The official call listed companies, clusters, cluster organizations, ecosystems, public sector bodies, business networks, innovation institutions, and consultancies as possible project partners. The accompanying questions and answers also confirmed that academic institutions, research institutes, start-ups, SMEs, and NGOs could participate and receive funding when they were based in a Nordic country and the consortium met the country requirement. There was no restriction on which eligible entity could act as lead, but the lead still needed the competence and capacity to manage the work.

At least three Nordic countries had to be represented in the consortium at the time of application. Nordic partners counted toward that requirement. Partners from outside the Nordic region could join, but they could not receive Nordic Innovation funding and did not count toward the three-country minimum. Each partner was expected to sign a letter of intent as part of the application process.

The country rule was only the starting point. Reviewers also assessed Nordic added value: why should the work happen at Nordic level rather than as separate national projects? A convincing answer might involve a shared cross-border value chain, complementary infrastructure, common market or regulatory conditions, shared data, or a technology that needs several Nordic operating environments to be tested. Simply listing partners from three countries would not establish that value.

Industry and the relevant problem or technology owners were important to the call. For a port-oriented consortium, that could mean giving operational responsibility to ports, carriers, terminal operators, energy companies, technology vendors, municipalities, or other actors who can test and adopt the result. A passive endorsement letter would be weaker than a partner with a defined work package, co-funding commitment, access to a test environment, data responsibility, or a route to deployment.

The official page also described de minimis aid obligations. Under EU rules, an undertaking may receive up to EUR 300 000 in state aid over a three-year period under the de minimis framework. Because Nordic Innovation is financed by the five Nordic governments, only 20% of a grant counts toward the limit for any one country. Applicants were still responsible for checking their own aid position and should have obtained specialist advice where public and commercial roles were mixed.

How the application worked

The application portal for the closed round opened on 1 October 2025. Applicants submitted through the portal rather than sending a free-form proposal to the advisers. The form had length restrictions, and the official instructions specifically required an activity plan and short CVs for the main participants. Each partner also needed to sign a letter of intent. The application was reviewed after the deadline rather than continuously as submissions arrived.

For an archive reader considering a similar future call, the practical sequence would be:

1. Choose the program fit. Explain whether the project is primarily a green-transition and commercialization effort under Innovative Solutions for 2030, a resilience and long-term competitiveness effort under Nordic Forward, or a well-supported combination.
2. Form the consortium before writing the final narrative. Confirm partners from at least three Nordic countries, define the role of each partner, and identify the project owner that would hold the grant agreement and manage transfers to other partners.
3. Write the Nordic added value in operational terms. State what cross-border coordination changes, which partners own the relevant problem or technology, and why a national project would not achieve the same result.
4. Build the work plan and activity plan. Assign owners to activities, milestones, deliverables, risks, and mitigation actions. The work plan should show how the project could start and be governed, not just describe an attractive theme.
5. Build the budget from the work plan. Separate the Nordic Innovation grant from partner cash, eligible in-kind hours, and other non-public contributions. Check that co-funding reaches at least 50% at project level and that every cost sits in an eligible category.
6. Prepare the required attachments. Collect the activity plan, short CVs for main participants, letters of intent, and any supporting evidence needed to show competence, access to facilities or data, and the partner commitments in the budget.
7. Submit before the published deadline. For this historical round, that deadline was 11 February 2026 at 13:00 CET. It is not a live date for new applications.

Nordic Innovation would enter the grant agreement with the project owner. The official questions and answers state that Nordic Innovation disburses the full grant to that contracting partner, which then manages the funds and transfers agreed shares to project partners under the consortium agreement and approved budget. A prospective lead therefore needed financial controls and a clear internal agreement, not just a strong technical idea.

What reviewers assessed

The call weighted impact at 40%, the largest category. Applications had to explain the change they would create, the results and scalability, the benefit for Nordic companies, the potential for new business or sustainable growth, and the connection to Nordic Vision 2030 and societal challenges. Every application also needed an exit strategy. Examples in the call included market uptake, follow-on funding, an ownership or operating model, and policy integration.

Quality and relevance counted for 25%. Reviewers considered fit with Nordic Innovation’s mission and the two programs, cross-sector innovation, and the benefit of doing the work at Nordic level. Where relevant, the call said the technology readiness level should be 6 to 9. That points toward demonstration, implementation, and market readiness rather than a basic research proposal with no near-term use case.

Implementation counted for 25%. The work plan had to be realistic, coherent, and efficient. Reviewers looked for activities, milestones, deliverables, risks, mitigation, appropriate allocation of roles, and evidence that the consortium had the necessary competence and capacity. A port-related project would have needed to show who controls each operational environment, who supplies data, who manages the technical work, and who can carry the result into adoption.

Budget and value for money counted for 10%. The total budget and cost structure needed to match the project’s ambition. The call viewed a high level of own investment positively because it demonstrated commitment. External services, equipment, travel, communication, and personnel time had to be directly tied to the approved work plan rather than used to conceal general overhead.

Status and timeline

The official call page records this closed timeline:

Nordic Innovation’s later news updates add the outcome. On 2 July 2026, Nordic Innovation announced seven selected projects under the call, covering more than 45 partners from Nordic industry, academia, and public-sector organizations. The announcement names projects in circular materials, seaweed, aviation resilience, quantum coordination, space, and additive manufacturing; it does not announce a new port-focused round. The earlier closure notice recorded 76 applications.

The official funding-opportunities listing labels this call Closed. It also lists other opportunities, including a separate call for Nordic Secondary Critical Raw Materials Value Chains, but that is not a replacement deadline for this program. Since the official sources reviewed here do not announce another Green and Competitive Nordic Region application window, this page should remain an archive entry. Do not submit through the old portal link or treat the closed deadline as a future opportunity.

Preparing for a possible future call

The most useful preparation is a short readiness pack that can be updated when Nordic Innovation publishes a new call. Start with the problem, the Nordic reason for solving it together, the partners in at least three countries, and the measurable result. Then identify the project owner, each partner’s work package, the co-funding source, the data or facilities each partner will provide, and the continuation model after grant support ends.

For a port or maritime proposal, make the operational case concrete. Name the cross-border route, infrastructure, value chain, or data exchange that requires Nordic coordination. Distinguish emissions reduction from general modernization. Explain which actors would use the result, how the project would measure change, what permissions or standards matter, and what happens after the pilot. A proposal that only says “decarbonize Nordic ports” would be too broad; a proposal with defined sites, partners, activities, baseline measures, and adoption decisions would be easier to evaluate.

Before reusing the old application text, recheck every program rule, cost category, aid limit, application attachment, and deadline on the new official call page. The closed call’s amount, timing, and eligibility rules are not a promise that a future round will use identical terms. The authoritative source for any new application is Nordic Innovation’s current funding listing and the linked official call text.

Official links

• Call for project proposals: Green and Competitive Nordic Region
• Seven new projects selected funding
• Funding opportunities
• Nordic Innovation funding page

Use the first link for the closed call’s original rules and the second link for the selection outcome. Use the funding-opportunities page to check whether Nordic Innovation publishes a genuinely new round. Until it does, this page is a historical record, not an open application listing.