UK’s Zenobe bags €482M to deploy over 2,000 electric bus vehicles throughout the UK and Ireland by 2026

London-based Zenobe, an EV fleet and battery storage specialist, announced on Wednesday the completion of a £410M (approximately €482M) funding in debt.

The banks and institutions providing support for Zenobē’s green EV financing syndicate include Aviva, Lloyds, MUFG, NatWest, Santander, Scottish Widows, Siemens Financial Services through Siemens Bank, and Société Générale.

New banks and institutions joining the syndicate include ABN AMRO, CIBC, NAB, Rabobank, and SMBC Group.

This brings the total number of banks and institutions committed to Zenobē’s network infrastructure and EV fleet operations to 13.

The recent capital injection adds to its already existing £241M, raised in 2022.

A long-term debt framework for electric bus fleets building on the private placement and Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) announced in 2022 is at the heart of the agreement. 

The announcement comes four months after the company raised £147 million in January 2024, which is integral to the delivery of the Kilmarnock South and Blackhillock grid-scale battery storage projects the company is developing in Scotland.

In February 2023, Zenobē began construction of Blackhillock, a 300MW/600MWh BESS, once fully built, that will be the first in the world to deliver Stability Services using a transmission-connected battery.

The latest round brings the total debt raised by Zenobē to over £1B since 2019.

The recent capital injection will help the company support the deployment of over 2,000 electric bus vehicles throughout the UK and Ireland by 2026.

Nicholas Beatty, Founder and Director, Zenobē says, “We are committed to financing and delivering innovative and reliable electric fleet and energy storage solutions for our customers. This milestone is not just a win for Zenobē but marks a significant leap forward in the movement toward a clean, low-carbon transportation sector in the UK. This follows the debt financing to support the construction of two of our major grid-scale batteries in Scotland, completed in January. The faith and innovation shown by our financial partners affirms the maturing of these asset classes and the sustainability and resilience of our business model.”

Zenobe: Battery storage specialist

Founded by Nicholas Beatty,  Zenobē is an EV fleet and grid-scale battery storage specialist.

Zenobē’s offers battery management service that removes battery risk for operators by taking on the responsibility and risk associated with EV batteries, including battery performance, replacement, and repurposing in second-life applications.

The UK company currently supports over 75 bus depots around the world, including Transdev Blazefield’s Harrogate depot, where it will finance 39 fully electric vehicles, along with a 15-year battery management service.

Earlier this year, the company announced the financing of 24 batteries on board Nottingham City Transport’s newly acquired fleet of fully electric single-deck buses. Both projects utilized Zenobē’s financing structure to enhance their Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) allocations.

Zenobē has around 25% market share of the UK electric bus sector and supports over 1,200 electric vehicles.

At present, around 735MW of battery storage projects are in operation or under construction and supporting over 1,200 electric vehicles globally.

The company is the largest owner and operator of EV buses in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It now operates in Europe and Australasia and is expanding into North America. 

Zenobē has 735MW of battery storage in operation or under construction to commission 2.5GW of storage in the UK by 2028.

What do the investors have to say?

Joe Taylor, Head of Infrastructure, Project and Asset Finance at NatWest, says, “This transaction represents the natural next phase in the evolution of the E-bus funding platform for Zenobē. The platform was designed to accommodate multiple sources of debt, and this has been achieved via the new facilities that Zenobē has entered into with commercial banks (both existing and new), and institutional funders.”

Darryl Murphy, Managing Director of Infrastructure, at Aviva Investors, says, “As one of the largest investors in UK real estate and infrastructure, we understand the important role of private capital in developing its national infrastructure, particularly projects which support the decarbonisation of transport networks. As such, we are pleased to have completed this financing which will help Zenobē continue its roll-out of EV buses, whilst also complementing the UK’s own zero-emission schemes and delivering investment returns to UK retirement savers.”

Chin Ratnayake, Managing Director, Infrastructure & Project Finance, Lloyds Bank, says, “Decarbonising the transport sector is key to the UK achieving its legally binding commitment of Net Zero by 2050. Financing low-carbon solutions in the UK remains core to our purpose. With its scale, and highly contracted business model, Zenobē has created a strongly investable platform to roll out zero-emissions buses.”

Mark Cumbo, Director of Specialised & Project Finance at Santander UK, says, “We are delighted to have supported Zenobē and played our part in delivering this latest landmark electric bus financing.  Once again, we’ve shown that Santander is keen to support trailblazers like Zenobē who bring innovative solutions and positive environmental change to the UK’s energy and transport sectors.  We’ve worked closely with its strong management team since 2018, supporting Zenobē in all their debt facilities to date across different projects, and are proud to be associated with this latest financing,  further supporting the Net Zero transition.”

Alex Kipling, Managing Director, Infrastructure Finance, Société Générale, says, “We are delighted to increase our commitments to finance Zenobē’s EV fleet roll-out. With the growing need to decarbonise transport through the use of e-mobility solutions, we’re impressed by Zenobē’s platform growth and their ability to scale rapidly. Zenobē’s de-risked business model delivers stable and predictable cash flows whilst modernising and upgrading the UK’s public transport offering. We welcome the opportunity to work with key clients such as KKR and Infracapital to deliver future-proofed and ESG-focussed investments.”