On 16 March 2025, Engie's Regional Director for North Africa announced that their Dakhla wind farm has begun producing its first gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity. This 60 MW wind farm is primarily dedicated to powering desalination processes aimed at transforming over 5,000 hectares of land into agricultural use near Dakhla, a town located in the part of Western Sahara that is under Moroccan military occupation.

The agricultural produce from this area, including tomatoes and melons, is predominantly exported to the European Union, where it has become subject of rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The Court has repeatedly - and most recently on 4 October 2024 - ruled that the EU-Morocco trade agreement, arranging tariff preferences for agricultural products, cannot be applied to Western Sahara because the people of the territory had not consented thereto. As such, the trade deal, that covers the agricultural imports from Dakhla, was considered to be violating principles of international law, primarily the right to self-determination. The agreement will cease to apply to Western Sahara on 4 October 2025.

The agribusiness in Dakhla are mostly owned by French-Moroccan businessmen. Notably, the largest agribusiness firm standing to benefit from Engie’s project is 'Les Domaines Agricoles' (formerly 'Domaines Royaux'), which is owned by the Moroccan monarchy. This underscores the intricate relationship between Moroccan state interests and economic activities in the occupied territory.

In June 2022, Engie and its partner Nareva, the Moroccan king's energy company, signed several public-private partnership (PPP) agreements and a Memorandum of Understanding with the Moroccan government, to proceed with the wind-powered desalination project. This collaboration has been criticized for operating in a territory under military occupation, where Morocco has no recognised sovereignty. 

The people with the sovereign rights to the territory, the Saharawis, object to Engie's operations on their land. The Saharawi parliament in 2023 condemned "the blatant involvement of the Engie company in the consolidation of the illegal Moroccan occupation in the territory of Western Sahara”. 

Engie has defended its operation, citing two legal analyses and a social and environmental impact study, but has not made these documents publicly available, thwarting their scrutiny. WSRW has called on Engie to release these documents, including a study conducted by Global Diligence, which purportedly involved consultations with local communities. WSRW argues that this approach is non-sensical in a context of military occupation, where Moroccan settlers outnumber the Saharawis that have not fled the territory. The EU Court of Justice has also rejected the practice, explaining that the consultation of the local population in the territory - who are in majority not Saharawis - cannot be equated to the right of consent of the people with legitimate rights to the land and its resources.

At the same time as pretending its operations are ethical, Engie in its contracts and in public communication refers to the location of the project as in “Morocco”, which is grossly incorrect. The legal references in leaked documents make no reference whatsoever to the status of the territory.

“We strongly condemn Engie's outspoken support for the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, both through its action and its statements”, Western Sahara Resource Watch coordinator Sara Eyckmans told. 

In October 2024, Engie signed a monster-deal with Morocco's state-owned phosphate company OCP SA, which in all likelihood will entail further projects in occupied Western Sahara. Engie has not responded to WSRW's request for clarifications.

“WSRW calls on all owners of Engie to engage or divest. At a time when international law is under intense pressure, the sort of behaviour that Engie is displaying should not pass unchallenged. Engie’s project represents one of the most controversial projects undertaken in occupied territories. Its purpose is to enlarge an agricultural industry in the territory that has been found by the ECJ to be in violation of the Saharawi people’s rights. A first test for any investor would be to call for the immediate publication of the secret Global Diligence study that seemingly had the purpose of legitimising the industry through seeking the opinion of the Moroccan interests in the occupied territory”, Eyckmans stated. 

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