The Scottish Government has revised its approach to this funding. Up to £40 million was previously allocated to a reopened ScotZEB2 but that, and more will now go to ScotZEB3. Ministers believe that this will be the fastest and most effective way to support new zero-emission bus orders.
The additional funding is focused on building public service routes (the previous round was orientated towards coaches for private hire and tourism-related work).
The award of ScotZEB3 money to successful bidders is expected in spring 2026.
The Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB for short) is a funding programme created by the Scottish Government. Heavy duty vehicles emit a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions compared to the proportion of the road transport fleet operating in Scotland. ScotZEB funding aims reduce carbon emissions, and a swift and significant switch toward zero-emission technologies.
It comes ahead of future regulations. By prohibiting the use of new non-zero-emission buses on local services (from a date no earlier than 2030), this lends a hand to providing certainty to the bus manufacturing sector on the pipeline for new, clean buses.
ScotZEB2 funding is currently in its final phase and has received further funding to expand the number of projects under the initiative. The Scottish government is considering the highest scoring project to the final stages of the assessment process. Previous rounds of assessment were highly competitive. Zenobe Energy fulfilled their subsidy request for a project worth over £136 million which will bring 252 new zero-emission buses to Scotland’s roads.
Organisations who are not part of the Zenobe-led consortium are encouraged to contact Rock Road if they wish to benefit from this final opportunity for funding through the ScotZEB programme.
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