Acelen: Brazil's SAF Breakthrough for Greener Aviation (IDBI-15772-01)

Regions
  • Latin America and Caribbean
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Brazil
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Mataripe, municipality of São Francisco do Conde, State of Bahia
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • IDB Invest (IDBI)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
A
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Mar 10, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Acelen Energia Renovavel SA
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • Energy
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 200.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 200.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 200.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IDBI website

Updated in EWS Jan 13, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Nov 21, 2025

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated by the IDB Invest, Acelen Industrial will design, build and operate an integrated seed-to-fuel solution to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel using Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) technology. The new greenfield refinery, adjacent to the Mataripe Refinery in Bahia, aims to become Latin America's largest renewable facility, leveraging vegetable oils, used cooking oil, and tallow as feedstocks. With an estimated investment of US$1.3 billion, the Project targets international markets and seeks to deliver biofuels at globally competitive costs, supporting Brazil's energy transition.

Acelen Renewables is a Brazilian company seeking support to finance the design, implementation, and operation of a new biorefinery that will utilize renewable feedstocks, aiming to become the largest facility of its kind in Latin America. This facility will produce sustainable aviation fuel and hydrotreated vegetable oil from vegetable oils, waste oils, and/or tallow, utilizing Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids (“HEFA”) technology. The Project’s associated facilities include a gas pipeline and a transmission line. The biorefinery will be located at a site next to the Mataripe Refinery, located in the district of Mataripe, in the municipality of São Francisco do Conde, Bahia State, Brazil.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated on the company's website, Acelen Energia Renovavel SA is "an important player in the energy sector, built on the Mataripe Refinery’s 70-year legacy of operating assets with excellence, safety, productivity and sustainability in the state of Bahia.

We are responsible for supplying over half of Northeastern Brazil, a region with the highest estimated economic and population growth over the coming years.

Acelen was created by Mubadala Capital, the asset management subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, a leading global sovereign investor. Present in Brazil since 2012, Mubadala Capital is a responsible, active and innovative investor with a long-term vision, committed to making a positive social and economic impact on the communities where it operates.

The Mataripe Refinery has the capacity to process over 300,000 barrels of oil per day, equal to 14% of Brazil’s total refining capacity and over half of the supply for the entire Northeastern region of Brazil."

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
Mubadala Investment Co PJSC Parent Company Finance owns Acelen Energia Renovavel SA Client Energy

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Client - Acelen Energia Renovavel SA:

Marcelo França Nogueira - CFO
Phone: +55 11 99664-5412
Email: mnogueira@acelen.com 
Address: Av. das Nações Unidas, nº 14.171 - 26º andar Torre C - CEP 04794-000 - São Paulo - SP 

IDB Invest:

BID Invest Communication Group
Email: requestinformation@idbinvest.org 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: 

https://www.idbinvest.org/en/access-information-policy.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IDB / IDB INVEST

The Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) or Inter-American Investment Corporation (IDB Invest)-funded project. If you submit a complaint to MICI, they may assist you in addressing the problems you raised through a dispute-resolution process with those implementing the project and/or through an investigation to assess whether the IDB or IDB Invest is following its own policies for preventing or mitigating harm to people or the environment.  You can submit a complaint by sending an email to MICI@iadb.org.  You can learn more about the MICI and how to file a complaint at http://www.iadb.org/en/mici/mici,1752.html (in English) or http://www.iadb.org/es/mici/mici,1752.html (Spanish). 

How it works

How it works