London based renewable energy services company Zenobē Energy says it has raised $A400 million to accelerate the transition to zero-emission public transport across Australia and New Zealand.
Founded in 2017, Zenobē designs, finances, builds, and operates battery solutions in several markets, but is also quickly cementing itself as a leading owner and operator of electric buses in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
Zenobē announced on Tuesday that it had closed what it described as a “landmark” $400 million financing platform that, backed by a syndicate of global banks, which will serve as the foundation for the first integrated and multi-site heavy vehicle fleet electrification financing platform to be established in Australia and New Zealand.
The new platform will provide access for major public transport networks and commercial fleets in Australia and New Zealand to the company’s end-to-end electrification capabilities, including turnkey depot electrification, long-term chassis and battery leasing, mid-life battery replacement, and ongoing operational optimisation.
Zenobē aims to remove the need for operators to commit to significant upfront capital investment while also reducing technology and battery residual value risk and simplifying the deployment and management of electric fleets.
“This platform represents a major step forward for zero-emission transport in Australia and New Zealand,” said Gareth Ridge, country director for Australia and New Zealand at Zenobē.
“Our model removes many of the traditional barriers operators face, from upfront capital costs to technology risk, while providing a fully integrated, end-to-end solution. This allows our customers to focus on delivering cleaner, more reliable transport services, while we manage the complexity.
In the past few months, Zenobē has established itself as a major player in Australia’s fleet electrification space. Zenobē announced in April that it had begun accepting expressions of interest from heavy vehicle fleet operators across Australia for its $100 million truck electrification funding initiative.
Announced in March at the Freight Forward conference in Canberra, Zenobē’s $100 million investment would help heavy vehicle fleet operators fund the purchase of electric trucks, charging infrastructure, battery replacements, and the costs of deployment.
Zenobē followed this up in May by partnering with Australian appliance and logistics business Winning Group to deploy 30 electric trucks across its delivery operations in Sydney and Melbourne, ensuring the company can electrify the full delivery journey of its products to consumers.
Zenobē also opened Australia’s first off-site electric truck charging hub in the inner Sydney suburb of Mascot at the end of 2025.
Zenobē announced in November that it would partner with New Zealand transport operator Ritchies to deliver one of the country’s largest ever electric bus rollouts, consisting of more than 170 electric buses to be rolled out across Auckland.
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Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.