Illustration above from Voltalia's April 2025 report. 

In the latest financial reports from French renewable company Voltalia, the ownership that it had in a windfarm in occupied Western Sahara has been deleted. 

In July 2020, Moroccan media wrote that Voltalia could kick-off the development of a 75 MW wind farm in Ghrad Jrad, near El Aaiún. A joint-venture called “Parc Eolien de Ghrad Jrad SAS” had been set up for that purpose, consisting of Voltalia Maroc and VLT Investment 6 BV - both subsidiaries of Voltalia SA (France). The project is controversial, as the location is in the territory of Western Sahara, under foreign occupation by the neighbouring country of Morocco. 

The origin of Voltalia’s saga in Western Sahara, started with the company’s acquisition of the Moroccan renewable developer Alterrya Maroc and the related company Alterrya Wind in 2016. The Alterrya transactions enabled Voltalia to obtain a portfolio of 185 MW wind and 100 MW solar projects which at the time of the take-over were still at the conception stage. WSRW considers the Ghrad Jrad wind farm to be part of that portfolio. Voltalia also acquired a company called VMA Sahara in 2016, which is also based in El Aaiún.

The information of the French company’s 100% ownership in the three companies Ghrad Jrad, VMA Sahara and Alterrya Maroc, was included in the annual reports that it submitted to the French public body responsible for financial regulation, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), up until 2024 (for the year ended 31 December 2023).

However, in the most recent report filed with the AMF on 2 April 2025, Voltalia has omitted the references to Ghrad Jrad and VMA Sahara.

This filing was made the same month, perhaps coincidentally, as Moroccan media reported that the Ghrad Jrad windfarm was close to becoming operational. Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) contacted Voltalia in June 2025, asking for confirmation about what had happened, but the company failed to respond. 

By omitting the two corporate entities directly linked to operations in Western Sahara from its reporting, Voltalia has obscured the most explicit references indicating its involvement in activities in the occupied territory.

WSRW does not know the reason behind this change in reporting. One plausible explanation is that Voltalia’s operations in occupied Western Sahara are now being managed through its subsidiary, Voltalia Maroc.

Voltalia also did not respond to WSRW letters about its Ghrad Jrad plans in 2020 and 2021.

According to the Moroccan Ministry for Energy Transition, the problematic project includes the construction of a 250 km power line to connect the park to the ONEE high-voltage substation in El Aaiún [or download].

Voltalia has demonstrated a wider interest in business operations in the last colony in Africa, as it also took part in the Moroccan government's tender for a desalination plant in Dakhla that was awarded to Engie in 2022.
 

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