Morocco is increasingly using renewable energy to consolidate its occupation of Western Sahara. Wind and solar projects in the occupied territory supply electricity to industries that exploit Western Sahara's natural resources, support Morocco's settlement policy, and are planned to underpin new industries such as green hydrogen production. At the same time, the projects are presented internationally as part of Morocco's climate ambitions, despite being developed without the consent of the people of Western Sahara.

• Morocco is in desperate need for energy. By building capacity in the territory it holds under occupation, it is making itself dependent on energy projects in that occupied land, and thus on maintaining its military presence there.
• All but one of the currently operational wind farms in the occupied territory - the exception being a privately owned windmill that supplies a cement factory - are part of the portfolio of Nareva, the wind energy company that belongs to the holding company of the Moroccan monarchy. As long as the king himself earns money through the projects, what incentive does he have to genuinely engage in the UN peace process?
• 100% of the energy that the Moroccan state-owned phosphate company OCP needs to exploit Western Sahara’s non-renewable phosphate reserves in Bou Craa are made from windmills. The renewable energy is generated by 22 Siemens wind turbines at the 50 MW Foum el Oued farm, operational since 2013. The Aftissat wind farm, operational since 2018, is also said to be supplying industrial end-users.
• Morocco risks implicating other states by exporting Western Sahara energy, for instance to the EU. The EU has promised not to import green energy from the territory, but is unlikely the EU will be able to differentiate energy generated in Morocco proper and energy generated in the occupied territory, as it will pass in cables under Strait of Gibraltar. It is a technical impossibility.
• The UN climate body UNFCCC blindly accepts Morocco's reporting on its energy infrastructure in Western Sahara as part of its own commitments to reach the Paris Agreement targets. This suggests UN recognition and international praise for projects that should be condemned and sanctioned.
• Morocco has forced a large number of Saharawis out of their homeland, away from the exact areas where it now develops its renewable projects. The Saharawi refugees have been displaced to a part of the Saharan desert where the impacts of climate change will be felt more severely than in the coastal areas they fled from. The UN’s failure to resolve the occupation also means that the Saharawis remain locked outside of the global climate talks, governance and finance mechanisms they could desperately use to harness themselves for some of the worst impacts. In 2025, UN rapporteurs called on Morocco to stop demolishments and forced evictions of Saharawis, as the kingdom expands its green energy projects in the territory. 

Since the first renewable energy projects were established, Morocco has dramatically expanded its ambitions for the occupied territory. Wind farms have been enlarged or added, and renewable electricity is increasingly linked to desalination, intensive agriculture, mining, and plans for large-scale hydrogen production. Renewable energy has become one of the central pillars of Morocco's long-term strategy for occupied Western Sahara. 

A WSRW report from 2021 elaborated on all the Moroccan renewable projects in the occupied territory that were known at the time. An updated report was released in 2025, documenting the rapid expansion of the sector in the territory.

Wind energy

Wind energy has become one of the defining features of Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara. Operational projects, projects under construction and announced developments together represent well over 1 GW of generating capacity, with further expansion planned.

The renewable development started back in 2012, when Morocco launched a tender for the construction of five wind farms: three in Morocco proper and two in ‘the southern provinces’ – Morocco’s preferred terminology to denominate the part of Western Sahara that it has illegally annexed. The two farms in Western Sahara were conceptualized as a 100 MW farm near Boujdour and a 300 MW farm in Tiskrad, near El Aaiun. The contract for all five farms was given to a consortium led by Siemens, and also including Enel Green Energy and Nareva. In 2019, the contract for the construction of the Boujdour farm was signed – though its capacity had now been raised to 300 MW. Work on the site began in 2021, with supplies from Spain. The farm became operational in July 2023. 

As part of the five-wind-farm deal, Siemens opened a wind turbine factory in Tangiers, in the north of Morocco. The factory was inaugurated in 2017. Its first client was Nareva, with an order for 56 turbines for a wind farm in the occupied territory: Aftissat. In late 2022, Siemens announced it would end production in Tangiers in early 2023. 

The 200 MW Aftissat wind farm has been operational since October 2018. The farm was built by the UK company Windhoist and consists of 56 Siemens Gamesa turbines. The power they generate is destined for industrial users, including OCP, LafargeHolcim Maroc and Ciments du Maroc. Siemens Gamesa has shown no effort to learn from critique from investors and Saharawis. In 2020, eight years after Siemens first announced its first project in Western Sahara, Siemens Gamesa announced a giant delivery to the Boujdour park, referring to Western Sahara as part of Morocco.

“Siemens should demonstrate how its activities in Western Sahara are in line with the interests and wishes of Saharawis, in accordance with the right to self-determination stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Should this not be possible, the company should withdraw from Western Sahara.”  

Erste Asset Management, regarding Siemens AG’s “operations in occupied territory”, Quarterly Engagement Report Q1 2018

In 2021, a subsidiary of the US company General Electric announced having signed a contract for the development of the 200 MW Aftissat II park, referring to the location as being in “Morocco”. The farm appeared to be near completion in 2023.

The Aftissat wind complex has continued to expand. In addition to the original wind farm and the Aftissat II extension, Morocco has initiated the Aftissat III and Aftissat IV projects. The new phases are equipped with turbines supplied by Goldwind, and construction appeared near completion in mid-2026. The four phases of the complex will have a combined installed capacity of approximately 550 MW, making Aftissat by far the largest wind energy complex in occupied Western Sahara and Morocco. 

In addition to these operational wind farms, several other projects are regularly rumoured as being in the pipeline: 

• In 2020, Moroccan media reported that the French company Voltalia SA was to construct a 75 MW wind farm in the "province of Laayoune". The project has since seemingly been delayed and reporting has ever since cited changes in both timing and planned capacity. In late 2025, Morocco's Federation for Energy listed the project as a 120 MW wind farm with a target completion date of 2027. At the same time, reports in 2026 suggested that Voltalia was considering scaling back or exiting its operations in Morocco following repeated project delays and financial losses, raising further uncertainty over the project's future. WSRW has also documented that Voltalia has omitted its involvement in occupied Western Sahara from its public reporting. 
• In 2020, Morocco advanced plans for a 900 MW wind farm near Dakhla, intended to power a large-scale blockchain data centre for cryptocurrency. The Norwegian certification company DNV GL pulled out of the project over the controversy surrounding its location in occupied Western Sahara. Although Moroccan authorities continue to list the project as a flagship investment to be developed by A.M. Wind (formerly associated with Soluna Technologies), and have long referred to an initial 100 MW phase  ran initial 100 MW phase, no construction had commenced by mid-2025. The project appears to have stalled, while the Moroccan government continues to promote it as an active development. 
• In 2021, news emerged that a Belgian-Dutch company, Windvision, would construct a windfarm near Dakhla. The 200 MW Biranzarane farm, part of the portfolio of Green of Africa - an energy firm that is co-owned by Morocco’s current prime minister Aziz Akhannouch - has since reportedly increased in planned capacity to 360 MW. The wind farm is expected to be equipped with turbines supplied by the Chinese manufacturer Goldwind. According to reports, the electricity generated will be transmitted north to power Morocco's planned Casablanca desalination plant, linking infrastructure in occupied Western Sahara directly to major public infrastructure projects inside Morocco. 
• In 2021, French multinational ENGIE informed WSRW about its plans to build a 40 MW wind powered desalination plant near Dakhla. In 2023, the first wind mill components, provided by Chinese firm Envision Energy, were shipped into the occupied territory. The project has since expanded to a reported capacity of 60 MW and entered power production in March 2025. The wind farm is intended to power a desalination plant that will enable the irrigation of more than 5,000 hectares of new agricultural land near Dakhla. The development is expected to facilitate a significant expansion of export-oriented agriculture in occupied Western Sahara, including on farmland benefiting businesses linked to the Moroccan monarchy. As of mid-2026, the project is reported to be nearing completion. 
• Morocco's Federation for Energy has announced plans for a new 300 MW Boujdour II wind farm in occupied Western Sahara. 
• The 100 MW Tiskrad wind farm near El Aaiún was announced in 2015 as part of Morocco's 850 MW Integrated Wind Energy Programme. The project was awarded to a consortium including Enel Green Power, Siemens Wind Power and Nareva, the energy company owned by Morocco's royal holding. While other projects from the same programme, such as the Boujdour wind farm, have been completed, Tiskrad has shown no visible progress for years. In 2025, Enel declined to provide information on the project's status https://wsrw.org/en/news/enel-dodges-question-on-project-in-occupied-territory, while Siemens Energy told shareholders that the project has not been discontinued but that the company is not involved. 

Solar energy

The operational solar capacity in the territory is today still relatively modest, consisting of two photovoltaic solar plants with a combined capacity of 100 MW that are up and running. The 80 MW El Aaiún site and the 20 MW Boujdour site were developed under the header of the NOOR PV I project, carried out by a consortium led by ACWA Power, in partnership with Shapoorji Palloni, Chint Group, Sterling & Wilson and Astroenergy. The announcement of ACWA Power’s successful bid was made at the UN Climate Conference, COP22, in Marrakech in November 2016, where the company also signed the contract with Masen, the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy. The certification of the solar infrastructure programme in the occupied territory was done by the Moroccan-French-UK Vigeo Eiris, which has issued statements strongly supporting Morocco's position on the occupation and which refuses to answer questions from WSRW.

The Moroccan government has announced plans for 350 MW solar farm, called Noor Boujdour II. 

Plans have seemingly also been issued for another solar plant at El Argoub, near Dakhla.

Green energy

Morocco has designated occupied Western Sahara as a key location for future green hydrogen production. The plans involve vast areas of occupied land being allocated for wind and solar developments that would power hydrogen and ammonia production for export. These projects risk further entrenching the occupation while attracting new international investors to projects developed without the consent of the Saharawi people. 

In 2023, a study commissioned by the Moroccan government showed that Morocco’s greatest potential for green hydrogen development lay in occupied Western Sahara. Later that year, Morocco's Finance Bill for 2024 revealed that no less than 81% of the land earmarked for green hydrogen projects was located in the occupied territory. 

Since then, Morocco has accelerated its plans. In 2026, the Moroccan government allocated extensive areas of occupied Western Sahara to a first group of selected green hydrogen investors, including the ORNX consortium and a joint venture between Taqa Morocco and Moeve. Other projects have also been announced, including one led by GE Vernova in partnership with Morocco's state utility ONEE and the Moroccan royal holding's energy company Nareva to convert the thermal power plant in El Aaiún to operate on hydrogen. 

International support has also begun to flow to these projects. In 2026, the US International Development Finance Corporation approved financing for an ORNX ammonia production facility in occupied Western Sahara, marking the first known US financing for a private project in the territory. 

Geothermal potential

In 2020, the Moroccan Ministry of Energy and Mines revealed research results that showed two possible areas for geothermal production: the northeast of Morocco proper and the “Tarfaya-Laayoune-Dakhla basins in southern Morocco” – the latter corresponding to the area of Western Sahara that is under Moroccan occupation. In April 2019, the Portuguese company Gesto Energy had been contracted to “identify and study areas with geothermal potential in the provinces of south of Morocco in an area of more than 140,000 km2, corresponding to Moroccan Sahara". Maps included on the firm’s webpage leave little doubt: the area matching the study span practically the entire part of Western Sahara that is presently under Moroccan military control.

 

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