By Brazil Stock Guide – Acelen has closed a financing and guarantee package of more than $1.1 billion to support its renewable fuels project in Bahia, according to documents filed by the company with Brazil’s securities regulator, the CVM. The amount reflects the sum of several instruments tied to the project, including long-term debt, local debentures, letters of credit and liquidity support lines.
The core financing totals $830 million, including $520 million from development lenders — IDB Invest, IFC, FinDev Canada, AIIB and BNDES — and $310 million from commercial banks through Acelen Offshore. The broader package also includes a local debenture issuance of up to R$422.6 million, letters of credit of up to $100 million and a liquidity support line of up to $150 million, bringing the total to about $1.15 billion.
Bahia SAF Push
The project will be built in São Francisco do Conde, within the industrial complex linked to the Mataripe Refinery, the former RLAM refinery previously owned by Petrobras. It will have capacity to process 20,000 barrels per day of vegetable oils and animal fats into sustainable aviation fuel, known as SAF, and renewable diesel.
The deed for Acelen Industrial’s debenture issuance, dated May 13, 2026, says proceeds will be used for the development, construction, implementation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the biorefinery and related facilities.
The local issuance was structured in 13 series, with real collateral, a 57-month term and remuneration equivalent to 100% of Brazil’s DI interbank rate plus a 1.92% annual spread. The transaction has the hallmarks of a project-finance structure: long-term debt, robust guarantees, linked accounts, project contracts, hedging instruments and creditor protections.
Mataripe as Platform
The deal deepens Acelen’s effort to turn Mataripe into a broader energy and transition platform. Acelen is controlled by Mubadala Capital, and the refinery is described by the company as Brazil’s second-largest, with processing capacity above 300,000 barrels per day, 201 storage tanks, four terminals and about 679 kilometers of pipelines connecting the plant to port terminals.
That operating base helps explain lenders’ appetite. In 2025, the Mataripe Refinery reported EBITDA of R$2.7 billion, net income of R$719 million and net revenue of R$45.3 billion, reversing a R$1.9 billion loss in 2024. In dollar terms, EBITDA reached $504 million, up from $450 million a year earlier.
The company also ended 2025 with R$2 billion in consolidated cash and says it has invested about R$4 billion in modernizing the plant since 2021. Last year, average annual production reached 259,000 barrels per day, up 6% from 2024 and 25% above the level before the current management took over, according to the refinery’s management report.
The package shows that Brazil’s energy transition in refining is not just about environmental ambition. It requires industrial scale, long-term contracts, international creditors and heavy financial engineering. For Acelen, the project is a way to use Mataripe’s existing infrastructure to move beyond traditional refining and position the company at the center of Brazil’s emerging race for SAF and renewable diesel.
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