Mubadala-owned Acelen locks in USD 1.5 bn for Bahia biofuels refinery project

Mubadala secures funds for Brazil biofuels build: Mubadala Capital’s Brazilian energy subsidiary Acelen will start construction on a biofuels refinery in Brazil’s Bahia, after it secured USD 1.5 bn in financing for the project, Reuters reports.

The details: The USD 3 bn project will produce up to 1 bn liters per year of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel once operations begin in 2029. The facility will also integrate feedstock sourcing from macauba, a native Brazilian oilseed, alongside soybean oil and used cooking oil.

Who’s backing it? A consortium of 10 institutions, led by HSBC and the International Finance Corporation, is financing part of the project.

Background

We first reported on the plant back in 2024, when Mubadala Capital was earmarking USD 13.5 bn for a biofuels project in Brazil. Plans included five USD 2.7 bn modules, each able to process 20k barrels of fuel per day. The original timeline had first production starting this year, and the sovereign wealth fund was also planning on converting an existing refinery it had bought from Brazil’s state-owned energy firm Petrobras.

Separately, Acelen is also currently running Mataripe, Brazil’s second-largest refinery, which Mubadala is looking to sell back to Petrobras. Talks had previously stalled but have been back on as of last month.

The moves come as Mubadala continues to restructure its Brazil portfolio, having recently closed its third Brazil fund of nearly USD 1 bn. Last year also saw it acquire 60.3% of a key Brazilian infrastructure firm, and it was also reportedly eyeing taking over a localfintech.

In other Mubadala news

In a separate development, Mubadala Energy is preparing to announce a final investment decision within months for its Tangkulo gas development in Indonesia’s South Andaman block, Reuters separately reports, citing comments made by Mubadala Energy’s COO Adnan Bu Fateem at the Indonesia Petroleum Association conference.

The project: The offshore project, discovered two years ago at the Tangkulo-1 well, holds an estimated resource potential of over 2 tcf of gas in place, with first production targeted for 4Q 2028.

The South Andaman basin has emerged as a key growth area for Mubadala Energy, with additional exploration at the Layaran-1 well indicating potential resources exceeding 6 tcf.