Zenobē, a leader in vehicle fleet electrification and battery storage innovation, today announces that it has been awarded £41.7 million, alongside a network of local fleet operators, in phase 2 of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB). John Swinney, First Minister of Scotland, gave the announcement at an event in Dunfermline this morning.
Zenobē will play a lead role for a network of operators in a consortium, providing tailored financing structures to reduce both upfront and lifetime costs of electric fleet operations – while also delivering key infrastructure and ongoing support for electric vehicle operation.
The funding enables eight small to medium sized enterprise (SME), mid-market and major operators to transition their fleets to zero-emission vehicles, adding more than 250 electric buses to Scotland and expanding the current number of e-buses in the nation by 40% by the end of 2026.
The grant-subsidised electrification projects will add to the 110 vehicles that Zenobē already supports in Scotland, 1,200 globally and will be delivered alongside the company’s £750m commitment to battery energy storage systems in the region.
The operators in the consortium dedicated to transforming Scotland’s electric vehicle connectivity include D&E Coaches, Ember, Hairy Haggis, Maynes Coaches, McGills, NHS GGC, Premier Coaches and Stagecoach.
The consortium has also committed to opening up their new charging infrastructure to third party fleet operators, creating a Scotland-wide rapid-charging network for use by buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), significantly enhancing electrified transport connectivity across the nation.
Once in operation, it is expected that the new vehicles will collectively avoid 605,595 tonnes of CO2 emissions over their 15-year lifetime, bringing cleaner air to Scottish communities.
Phase 2 of ScotZEB differed from Phase 1 in that applicants had to cooperatively pitch as part of a consortium, under a lead applicant, rather than individual operators and local authorities.
Steven Meersman, Founder and Director, Zenobē said: “Through our ScotZEB subsidised and Zenobē financed projects, we will support a variety of operators across Scotland to make the switch from diesel to electric. The consortium brings together family-owned coach companies, well established bus operators, an innovative electric bus start-up and the NHS, showing how private capital can help public funding go the extra mile. Zenobē uses unique financing solutions and operational support to demonstrate how we can accelerate the decarbonisation of transport across the nation, together.”
SOURCE: Zenobē
