Battery and EV fleet specialist Zenobe lands big KKR funding deal to fast-charge expansion

London headquartered EV fleet and grid-scale battery storage specialist Zenobe has secured over $1.6 billion in funding which will be used to expand its operations in the UK, Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Zenobe announced late last week that it had secured £600 million (around $A1.16 billion converted) from leading global investment firm KKR, as well as a further £270 million (around $A525 million) from existing shareholder Infracapital.

Zenobe will use the cash influx to fuel expansion of its fleet electrification and grid-scale battery storage business. Zenobe hopes that, by 2026, it will be supporting 4,000 electric buses, trucks, and commercial vehicles on the road.

In Australia, it has built the biggest electric bus depot in the country at Leichhardt, Sydney, integrating battery storage, solar, EV chargers and accommodating 40 electric buses. It also has plans to break into truck electrification in Australia and develop its second life battery plans.

The funding will also be used to design and construct two additional battery storage sites in Scotland and enable the extension in capacity of its battery storage asset at Blackhillock – which is supporting the integration of wind power into the grid and is part of Zenobe’s target to commission 1.2GW of storage in the UK by 2026.

Zenobe is also targeting development of an additional 2.5GW of battery storage assets in North America and Australia by 2030.

“Batteries are the under-recognised crucial component of our future transport and energy systems, and they’re available now,” said Nicholas Beatty, co-founder and director of Zenobē.

“We’re making huge strides in decarbonisation but it’s clear that too much renewable energy is being wasted and that transport decarbonisation must move faster.

“Batteries are critical to optimising the use of renewable electricity and making cheaper, greener and more secure power accessible. As fleet operators transition to electric, batteries offer a proven and available technology which, combined with software and data insights, can optimise the operators’ fleet while achieving zero emissions.

“Securing substantial further equity is a significant vote of confidence in our business, its achievements to date and future aims. KKR provides Zenobē with a leading international strategic partner to support our expansion plans into North America, Europe and Australasia and other markets. It supports our ability to raise further debt funding for these plans.”