Maputo, Sept. 9, 2026 (Lusa) - The Mozambique LNG project consortium plans to set up an industrial plant in Palma to produce 5,000 tonnes of coconut biodiesel per year for its natural gas operations, with a focus on agriculture and employment in Cabo Delgado.
The initiative, as set out in the tender notice for the facility to which Lusa gained access today, forms part of the decarbonisation strategy developed by TotalEnergies EP Mozambique Area 1 (TEPMA1), the company responsible for the Mozambique LNG project, and envisages the creation of a local production chain for low-carbon biofuel using coconuts sourced from farmers in the Palma region of Cabo Delgado.
To move forward with the agro-industrial component, TEPMA1 has launched a call for expressions of interest to select companies, investors, or consortia to finance, design, build, own and operate an integrated coconut biodiesel production plant under the «Finance-Build-Own-Operate» model.
According to documentation reviewed by Lusa, the facility is expected to have a nominal capacity to produce approximately 5,000 tonnes of B100 biodiesel per year, including vegetable oil extraction and refining units, raw material collection centres and a network of local aggregators.
The project envisages Mozambique LNG as the anchor buyer for production under a long-term purchase agreement, a model designed to ensure the initiative's commercial viability and promote the sustainability of the coconut value chain.
TEPMA1 also states that biodiesel production will use raw materials purchased from local smallholders under fair, certified conditions, as part of a broader agricultural development strategy already underway in the region.
According to the company, the initiative includes nurseries, technical support and assistance for more than 3,000 farmers, as well as planting over 440,000 coconut saplings, while seeking to boost community incomes and ensure a sustainable supply of raw materials.
The aim is to produce low-carbon fuel to power Mozambique LNG's operations, whilst creating opportunities for employment, income and economic activity linked to the processing and marketing of coconut-based products.
The Mozambique LNG gas project, being developed in Area 1 of the Rovuma Basin, officially resumed in January this year after a suspension of almost four years due to insecurity caused by armed attacks in Cabo Delgado.
According to TotalEnergies, the project is currently almost 50% complete and employs between 7,000 and 8,000 workers at the Afungi site in northern Mozambique.
During the presentation of the second-quarter results for 2026, the French oil company's chief executive, Patrick Pouyanné, stated that the project continues to progress in line with the target of starting production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2029.
Valued at around $20 billion (€17.4 billion), the Mozambique LNG project is expected to produce up to 13 million tonnes of LNG per year when it comes on stream, forming part of a series of mega-projects aimed at exploiting the vast natural gas reserves discovered in the Rovuma Basin, which are among the largest in the world.
Mozambique currently has three major projects approved to exploit these reserves. The Coral Sul FLNG project, led by the Italian company Eni, has been operating since 2022, while the Coral Norte project, approved in 2025, is expected to double the liquefaction capacity of that concession from 2028 onwards. Meanwhile, the Rovuma LNG project in Area 4, led by ExxonMobil, is projected to have a production capacity of 18 million tonnes per year after 2030.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
