NIB lends Tide Buss up to NOK 241M for 105 electric buses in Norway

What's the deal? The Nordic Investment BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (NIB) has approved a loan of up to NOK 241M to Tide Buss AS, a privately owned Norwegian transport operator, to finance the purchase of 105 electric buses. The total project cost is NOK 498M, with NIB covering up to 50% and DNBDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → co-financing the rest.

The new buses will run under long-term concessions in Vestfold, Sogn, and Sunnhordland. In Sogn and Sunnhordland, they will replace parts of Tide's existing diesel fleet. In Vestfold, Tide will deploy them on a newly awarded contract. The project also benefits from support under the EU's InvestEU Fund.

Why now? Norway has been aggressively pushing to decarbonise public transport, and Tide — which operates more than 2,100 buses and serves roughly 500,000 passengers daily — is under pressure to align its fleet with zero-emission targets. All 105 buses meet the EU Taxonomy criteria for zero tailpipe emissions.

"Electrifying public transport is one of the most effective ways to reduce emissions and improve local air quality," said André Küüsvek, NIB president and chief executive officer.

What could go wrong? Norway's cold climate poses a real challenge. The buses will need fuel-based auxiliary heaters to cope with harsh winters. Only the Vestfold route buses — about 42% of the project — will use hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), qualifying under NIB's environmental bond category. The remaining buses will rely on diesel-based heaters, partially undermining the green credentials.

Battery performance also tends to degrade in extreme cold, which could affect range and reliability on rural routes in Sogn and Sunnhordland.

The signal: This deal reflects the broader Nordic push to electrify public transport at scale, backed by multilateral development finance. NIB — the international financial institution of eight Nordic-Baltic countries, rated AAA/Aaa — is increasingly channelling capital into clean mobility projects.

For Tide, it marks a significant step in greening a fleet that still runs largely on diesel. For the region, it's another data point in a trend: public transport operators across Scandinavia are locking in long-term electric concessions, driven by tightening EU emissions rules and growing availability of concessional finance.

Read more: nib.int