ZEBRA Grant Scheme for Transport for West Midlands - Market Engagement

Under its net zero strategy, the UK Government sets out policies and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet its net zero target by 2050. The West Midlands aims to lead the green revolution and become a net zero carbon economy nearly a decade earlier in 2041. It can make progress on that journey through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) Scheme, designed to help local transport authorities outside London introduce zero-emission buses and the infrastructure to support them. The scheme will also contribute to the Department for Transport's (DfT) three strategic priorities: Grow and Level Up the Economy; Reduce Environmental Impacts and Improve Transport for the User.

DfT are investing £30.4 million under the ZEBRA scheme to secure the procurement and deployment of 100 hydrogen-powered double decker buses in the West Midlands, as well as 24 articulated hydrogen buses for the Sprint Bus Rapid Transit corridor, and hydrogen refuelling system (HRS) infrastructure, which also could potentially provide the fuel for new hydrogen-powered taxis, HGVs and long-distance coaches as demand grows. All the buses will be powered by green hydrogen. More information on the funding award from the ZEBRA scheme to the West Midlands is available at https://www.wmca.org.uk/news/west-midlands-to-launch-uk-s-largest-hydrogen-bus-fleet-after-securing-30m-government-funding/. The approved Final Business Case for the scheme can be viewed at https://www.tfwm.org.uk/media/31il4swm/zebra-standard-wmca-fbc-final-for-publish.pdf (opens as PDF).

West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) propose to undertake a competitive grant application process to allocate the Grant Funding to suppliers, who will the use the Grant Funding towards acquiring hydrogen buses and associated infrastructure (in line with the grant funding requirements and outputs of the business case). The Business Case assumes this will be delivered as a single package, however through this exercise we will explore various options to ensure the proposed scheme objectives are best achieved.

As part of considering and progressing the proposed approach set out the above, the WMCA are organising a virtual Bidders' Conference on Tuesday 24 May from 10:00 to 12:00, in order to undertake soft market testing and obtain industry input to determine the market's ability to deliver the requirement, and how the service should be structured and grant funding allocated in order to deliver the most beneficial solution for WMCA. Potential bidders and suppliers should express their interest in attending the Bidders' Conference via the Bravo Portal (https://wmca.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html), under project_559, reference 401884.

Additional information:

To be eligible for funds, bidders will need to meet criteria prescribed by WMCA, which will include the Commercial Operators demonstrating a viable plan to operate the hydrogen buses in the areas prescribed.

The DfT grant covers up to 75% of the additional costs of zero emissions vehicles over the costs of diesel vehicles, and up to 75% of the costs of upgrading associated infrastructure for those.