Bus Industry News, International

Kinetic signs major deal to bring its electric buses to New Zealand

The financing deal will provide Kinetic with the money to bring more electric buses and infrastructure into New Zealand and speed up the country’s decarbonisation efforts

Major Australasian bus transport operator Kinetic has announced it has signed a major financing deal with the New Zealand Green Investment Fund (NZGIF) to further decarbonise the country’s public transport network.

The NZGIF’s $50 million capex facility will finance electric buses and infrastructure for Kinetic and will form support for Kinetic’s strategic vision and sustainability goals in NZ.

Kinetic says it has plans to supports councils in transitioning public bus fleets from diesel to battery electric buses after already delivering more than 150 electric buses to NZ streets in partnerships with councils in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Tauranga.

Back in January, Kinetic unveiled its first New Zealand fully electric bus depot. The Panmure (Auckland) site is home to 35 electric buses, which are among 152 the company will deliver in partnership with Auckland Transport over the next two years.

The NZGIF facility will be used to accelerate the decarbonisation of New Zealand’s public transport fleet and is enough to fund more than 150 zero-emission buses over the term of the facility. If fully drawn, the facility will help New Zealand avoid more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions over the life of the assets.

NZGIF Chief Executive Craig Weise says the deal is an important step for New Zealand’s public transport system.

“If New Zealand is going to meet its CO2 emissions reductions targets, we’re going to need to dramatically increase the number of low and zero-carbon emissions buses on our roads,” Weise says.


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“Only around five per cent of public buses in New Zealand are electric at the moment, so there’s room for a huge improvement. The technology is readily available but, until now, financing for the New Zealand market just hasn’t been there.

“We were established precisely to help catalyse these sorts of deals and to collaborate with other like-minded organisations to build a low carbon economy.

“It’s great to be working with Kinetic, which is not only one of the largest bus operators in Australasia, but one of the fastest growing as well. It’s already well established in New Zealand through its acquisitions of NZ Bus and Go Bus and we’re excited to be working with them and the broader lending syndicate to help reduce public transport emissions.”

Kinetic Co-CEO Michael Sewards says the support of NZGIF recognised Kinetic’s strategic vision and sustainability goals.

“The strength of our lending syndicate recognises the evolution and diversification of the Kinetic platform across Australasia and our trusted partnerships with government regulators and regional councils to accelerate the decarbonisation of public transport,” Sewards says.

“In our experience, New Zealand is leading the charge on the global stage on the transition to zero emission busing, and we’re prepared with adequate support to meet both community expectation and the government mandate for the full decarbonisation of urban buses in New Zealand by 2035.”

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