Morocco is working to connect the energy that it produces in occupied Western Sahara, to the Moroccan networks, through a politically and legally highly controversial project. 

According to the Moroccan news service Le 360, the Moroccan authorities have needed to postpone six times the conclusion of a tender for the 3GW high voltage connection that will link Dakhla in Western Sahara to Casablanca in Morocco. 

Some of the companies interested in the tender are said to be needing “more time to prepare the application files”. The new deadline for submitting applications has now been set for 12 November, according to the ONEE website

The last postponement of the Moroccan energy authority ONEE was reportedly made a month ago, in order to update certain prequalification criteria.

In 2023, Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) wrote about the Moroccan government’s plans to build its 1,400 km-long so-called “electric highway” connecting Morocco to the territory that it holds under foreign occupation. WSRW warned that companies should not bid on the tender. 

In April, the French government announced that it was ready to finance the cable. The French government is one of Morocco’s most consistent partners, and has on numerous occasions blocked the ability of the UN mission in Western Sahara to monitor human rights violations. 

Morocco has over the last years tried to attract European governments and companies to invest in its renewable energy programmes. A substantial part of these programmes are located in the occupied territory. The Court of Justice of the EU on 4 October passed another three rulings annulling EU-Morocco agreement in Western Sahara, arguing that the territory is separate and distinct from Morocco, which has no sovereignty or mandate to administer the territory. The Court has furthermore introduced severe conditions on any potential new agreement, ensuring that the Saharawi people can no longer be by-passed and that their right to self-determination and to permanent sovereignty of the territory’s resources are thoroughly protected.

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