Could it be that Enel has dropped one of its controversial projects in occupied Western Sahara?

The Tiskrad project, envisioned as a 100 MW wind farm located near El Aaiún, was part of Morocco’s 850 MW Integrated Wind Energy Programme - a package deal awarded in 2015 to Enel Green Power, Siemens Wind Power, and Nareva, the energy company owned by the Moroccan royal holding. Two of the five wind farms in the package were to be built in Western Sahara: Boujdour, which is now an operational 300 MW wind farm, and Tiskrad.

Morocco’s massive infrastructure projects in Western Sahara are highly controversial, as Morocco violates international law by carrying out such programmes. 

Press releases still to be found on Enel’s website list the Tiskrad project as being located in Morocco, suggesting that it is Enel’s opinion that Western Sahara is legally a part of Morocco - a position that contradicts the opinions of the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Justice, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations, all of which affirm that Western Sahara is not part of Morocco. 

Yet there has been no news on Tiskrad for years.

When contacted on the status of the Tiskrad project by WSRW in September 2025, Enel responded that it does “not provide confidential information on projects”.

It also stated to WSRW that it does “not take any position in relation to questions related to any local and/or international political situation”. 

The Tiskrad wind farm is absent from Enel’s official overview of operations in “Morocco” on its website that lists both operational and under-construction plants. It is also absent from the company’s 2025 Integrated Annual Report, which does include a page and a half on the Boujdour farm - also located in the occupied territory. The last mention of Tiskrad in Enel’s formal reporting appeared in its 2021 Sustainability Report, which said that a “preliminary analysis of the social, economic and environmental context” had been carried out, and that an Environmental Social Impact Assessment would follow.

The project is presumed to remain in the permitting stage, yet in 2025, Global Energy Monitor and Watts Up Africa suggest it may have been shelved. Global Energy Monitor defines “shelved” as follows: “Suspension of operation has been announced. The status is marked as ‘shelved – inferred 2 y’ if no progress has been observed for at least two years.” 

To implement the Boujdour wind farm, Nareva Enel Green Power Morocco (NEGPM) - a joint venture between Enel’s 100%-owned subsidiary Enel Green Power Morocco and Nareva - partnered with Morocco’s national electricity company ONEE. 

Siemens Energy, the turbine-provider for the overall 850 MW wind farm package deal that includes Tiskrad, stated at its annual general meeting in February 2025 that the Tiskrad project “includes expansion options for three existing wind farms, two of which are located in Morocco and one in the territory of Western Sahara. The customer has not yet exercised any of these options, so the status of the project remains unchanged.” 

In addition to not responding on the progress of the Tiskrad project, Enel has over the years also failed to answer a number of other questions from WSRW regarding its activities on the illegally occupied territory. 

See previous letters from WSRW on 03.07.2013, 27.09.2016, 11.10.2016, 02.06.2020, 03.09.2021 and responses from Enel on 10.10.2016, 30.06.2020 and 13.09.2021.

Do you have information about the Tiskrad wind project? Please contact WSRW confidentially at info@wsrw.org

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