Zenobe secures millions for EV fleet expansion in the UK

Since setting up its funding platform in 2022, Zenobe has raised over one million pounds of green debt funding in total. It initially started out with £ 241 million and later secured an additional 600 and 270 million pounds from KKR and Infracapital, respectively.

This time, the money comes from 13 lenders. Existing lenders include the UK private placement institution Aviva, Lloyds, MUFG, NatWest, Santander, Scottish Widows, Siemens Financial Services through Siemens Bank and Société Générale. New banks and institutions to join the initiative include ABN AMRO, CIBC, NAB, Rabobank and SMBC Group.

The fleet electrification specialist wants to offer “tailored financial solutions to support bus operators to deliver more than 2,000 new electric buses throughout the UK and Ireland by 2026.” Zenobe i.e. works with Transdev Blazefield to bring 39 electric buses to the latter’s depot in Harrogate. The companies also signed a 15-year battery management service agreement. It also recently announced a deal with Nottingham City Transport (NCT). All 48 electric buses are charged overnight at the Trent Bridge Garage in the Meadows via infrastructure supplied and maintained by Zenobē.

Moreover, the company is looking to construct two additional battery storage sites in Kilmarnock South and Eccles in Scotland and extend the capacity of its site in Blackhillock and Scotland. The money will also be used to develop battery storage projects with a combined capacity of 2.5 GW in North America and Australia by 2030.

“This is more than a story of Zenobē’s growth; it is a leap forward for the bus industry in the UK,” says Steven Meersman, Founder and Director, at Zenobē. This expansion of our existing financing will help us continue our work with operators across the UK with specialist solutions to one of the biggest barriers to electric fleets – the upfront cost. By gaining both new and renewed support from the right financial partners we are taking another step forward in our mission to electrify the UK’s buses at scale, reducing carbon emissions and connecting more communities in the UK.”

Source: Information per mail