Siemens, one of the world’s largest industrial conglomerates, is a leading supplier of systems for power generation and transmission.[1] The Moroccan government, through a state-owned phosphate company called Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP),[2] engages in a variety of mining and resource-extractive activities in Western Sahara.[3] These are the most controversial kinds of activities for an occupying power to undertake in such a territory. According to OCP, Siemens energy mills in Western Sahara supply 95 percent of the energy required for OCP’s mining operations.[4] For example, in 2016, Siemens was part of a consortium with Enel Green (Italy) that won a multibillion-dollar bid to build five wind-power farms in Morocco. Two of these will be located in Western Sahara, one in Tiskrad, Laayoune (300 MW) and another near Boujdour (100 MW). Siemens will be supplying the turbines for the project.[5] Currently, green energy production from Western Sahara constitutes just 7 percent of Morocco’s total production, but a report estimates that after these projects are finished, that number will increase to over 25 percent.[6]
[1] Siemens, “About Siemens,” http://www.siemens.com/global/en/home/company/about.html.
[2] OCP, “What Is the Ownership Structure of OCP?” http://www.ocpgroup.ma/media/faqs/what-ownership-structure-ocp; Solpart, “About Us: Partners,” http://www.solpart-project.eu/about-us/partners/ocp/.
[3] Western Sahara Resource Watch, “Here Is the ‘Phosphate Windmill Park,’” March 11, 2016, http://wsrw.org/a105x3618.
[4] Western Sahara Resource Watch, “Here Is the ‘Phosphate Windmill Park,’” March 11, 2016, http://wsrw.org/a105x3618.
[5] Wind Power Monthly, “Morocco Confirms 850MW Tender Results,” March 14, 2016, http://www.windpowermonthly.com/article/1387236/morocco-confirms-850mw-tender-results.
[6] Western Sahara Resource Watch Report, “Powering the Plunder: What Morocco and Siemens are Hiding at COP22, Marrakech,” November 2016, http://wsrw.org/files/dated/2016-11-01/poweringplunder_eng_web.pdf.
