Albioma secures geothermal exploration permit in Mayotte
Palagonite cliffs in Mayotte (source: B.navez, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Carlo Cariaga
10 Sep 2025
Renewable energy firm Albioma has been granted an exlusive geothermal research permit for an 80-sq. km. study site in the island of Mayotte.
French renewable energy company Albioma SAS has been granted an exclusive permit for the exploration of geothermal resources, known as the “Petite Terre Permit,” in the island of Mayotte by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty of France.
The permit covers an area of about 80 square kilometers encompassing the Bandraboua, Dzaoudzi, Koungou, Mamoudzou, Pamandzi and Tsingoni municipalities. It is granted for a period of four years. The financial commitment made in the application for geothermal exploration is EUR 3.5 million.
With the permit, Albioma is now able to conduct technical studies and initiate regulatory procedures to prepare an exploration drilling program. Drilling will require another permit (demande d’autorisation environnementale de travaux miniers / DAENV-TM) particularly to drill one or more exploration wells at depths of greater than 1500 meters.
In 2024, Albioma was granted a five-year geothermal research permit in Reunion Island, another French department in the Indian Ocean. In 2021, Albioma entered the geothermal market with the acquisition of the Gümüsköy geothermal power plant in Türkiye. The company owns and operates several renewable energy facilities around the world.
Source: Outremers360 and Legifrance
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