In early July, WSRW contacted the energy companies that are pre-qualified to build windmills in occupied Western Sahara. The response has been meager.
On 2 and 3 July 2013, Western Sahara Resource Watch contacted 16 companies that were prequalified for a controversial tender to build wind energy farms in occupied Western Sahara for the Moroccan government. WSRW asked, among other things, what these companies had done to assure that the projects take the wishes of the people of Western Sahara into consideration.
So far, WSRW has received the following response letters.
From Alstrom, 17 July 2013.
From Vestas, 9 July 2013
However, both Alstom and Vestas failed to reply to the question in our letter.
General Electric announced in July it had pulled out of the tender.
The remaining companies contacted on 2-3 July have not responded: ACCIONA, Al Ajial, EDF Nouvelles Energies, Mitsui & Co, ACWA Power, Gamesa, NAREVA Holding, TAQA, Siemens, Enel, International Power Ltd - GDF Suez.
The companies were asked to respond before 20 July 2013.
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Danish-German Siemens Wind Power and Italian Enel Green Power have won the tender to construct five wind farms in Morocco. Only, two of planned farms are located outside of Morocco, and inside occupied Western Sahara. WSRW had warned them from taking part in the tender.