The United States has awarded its first federal funding to a private project in Laayoune, providing a $5.7 million grant for studies into a green ammonia complex estimated to cost $4.5 billion.

The move gives the first economic expression to Washington’s support for Morocco’s position on Western Sahara, the specialist Arabic-language platform Al-Taqa reported on Tuesday, 28 July, citing Bloomberg.

U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Duke Buchan III described the agreement as “the first financing provided by the U.S. government to the private sector in the Moroccan Sahara” during a ceremony held in Laayoune, according to Morocco’s MAP news agency.

The grant comes from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. It will fund the complex’s initial technical and financial studies, not its construction.

Thomas Hardy, an official at the U.S. agency, said the studies were intended to address the main engineering questions and “facilitate the mobilisation of the necessary financing”.

A complex estimated at $4.5 billion

The project is being developed by ORNX, a consortium comprising U.S.-based Ortus, Spain’s Acciona and Germany’s Nordex.

The facility could produce around 100,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year, which would be converted into 560,000 tonnes of green ammonia. It would include more than 2 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity, hydrogen production equipment and a seawater desalination plant.

Green ammonia is produced by combining hydrogen generated using renewable electricity with nitrogen extracted from the air. It is mainly used to manufacture fertilisers and is easier to transport over long distances than hydrogen.

Six years after Trump’s decision

The agreement comes six years after the United States recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in December 2020 under President Donald Trump. Buchan also reaffirmed U.S. support for the autonomy plan proposed by Rabat.

A representative of Morocco’s Foreign Ministry said the agreement would turn the partnership between the two countries into “concrete investments”.

Laayoune lies in territory administered by Morocco but still listed by the United Nations as a non-self-governing territory.

The $5.7 million U.S. grant does not guarantee that the complex will be built. ORNX must still complete the studies and secure the $4.5 billion required to develop the project.