According to Reuters, the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has signed a grant agreement with project developer ORNX to finance a US$5.7 million front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for the planned green ammonia facility in occupied Western Sahara. 

The agreement was signed on 28 July 2026 in El Aaiún, the capital of the territory under Moroccan occupation. 

ORNX is a consortium comprising Ortus Power Resources (USA), Acciona (Spain) and Nordex (Germany). The consortium was selected by the Moroccan government in March 2025 as one of the flagship investors under its so-called "Morocco Offer" green hydrogen programme. None of the consortium partners has responded to Western Sahara Resource Watch's letters regarding the project.

As WSRW reported earlier this year, Morocco allocated land to ORNX in occupied Western Sahara, despite having no internationally recognised sovereignty over the territory. The land reservation agreement, signed on 5 February 2026, enables the consortium to advance feasibility studies, permitting and environmental assessments for what has been presented as a US$4.5 billion green ammonia project in El Aaiún. 

The project is also expected to rely heavily on US technology. Trade publication Gasworld reported that the development team is working with several US companies, including GE Vernova, KBR, Electric Hydrogen and Terabase, alongside other international technology partners, underlining the growing involvement of US industry in Morocco's plans for occupied Western Sahara.

The USTDA grant therefore represents more than support for a feasibility study. While the United States recognised Morocco's claim over Western Sahara in 2020, successive US administrations had not previously provided direct government support for private investment projects in the occupied territory. Reuters noted that the new grant constitutes the first such US government financing.

WSRW condemns the US government for supporting Morocco´s illegal pillage of phosphate rock from the territory. 

"WSRW condemns the Trump administration for becoming the first US government to use public funds to facilitate a private-sector investment in the occupied territory. Rather than encouraging respect for international law, the United States is helping normalise Morocco's unlawful exploitation of a territory over which it has no recognised sovereignty, disregarding the Saharawi people's permanent sovereignty over their natural resources and their right to determine the future of their country. States have a clear obligation under international law not to recognise as lawful, aid or assist an illegal territorial acquisition or the maintenance of an unlawful situation. By financing this project, the United States is acting contrary to those fundamental principles and sending a dangerous signal that commercial investment in occupied Western Sahara is acceptable", stated Erik Hagen of WSRW. 

The funding announcement also comes only days after President Trump said that Morocco would name the 1,055-kilometre Tiznit-Dakhla highway in occupied Western Sahara the "President Donald J. Trump Highway" in recognition of his 2020 decision to recognise Morocco's claim over the territory. While Trump publicly thanked King Mohammed VI for what he called the "great honour", the reported naming has not been formally confirmed by Moroccan authorities. 

Western Sahara remains listed by the United Nations as a Non-Self-Governing Territory whose people have not yet exercised their right to self-determination. Morocco has no recognised sovereignty over the territory, and international legal principles require that economic activities in Western Sahara take place with the consent of the Saharawi people.

The ORNX project forms part of Morocco's broader strategy to establish large-scale green hydrogen and ammonia production in occupied Western Sahara for export. WSRW has previously documented how a substantial share of the land earmarked under Morocco's hydrogen strategy lies not within Morocco's internationally recognised borders, but in the occupied territory. Additional ORNX projects are reportedly planned in Boujdour and Dakhla - both located in occupied Western Sahara. 

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