紐時賞析／景氣及成本問題 美東離岸風電陷困境

美國離岸風能的成本將比預期還要高，部分風力電場可能會延宕，有的可能永遠不會興建。（本報資料照片）

Projects for Offshore Wind Stall As Supply and Funding Sputter

供應鏈與資金問題阻停美東風電

A few years ago, interest in offshore wind energy was so strong that developers proposed spending tens of billions of dollars to plunk hundreds of turbines the size of skyscrapers in the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Virginia.

幾年前，針對離岸風能的強大興趣，讓開發商提議花費數百億美元，在緬因州至維吉尼亞州的大西洋外海，架設數百座尺寸堪比摩天大樓的風電渦輪機。

But several of those projects have recently hit the skids after executives miscalculated the impact that the pandemic and rising interest rates would have on supply chains. The industry has found it much more difficult to manufacture, transport and erect wind turbines than it had expected. Just two dozen or so turbines have been installed in U.S. waters, compared with more than 6,000 in Europe, which has been building offshore wind farms for decades.

但企業高層主管錯估了疫情及利率上揚對供應鏈造成的衝擊，那些計劃有不少在最近碰上困境。業界已發現，製造、運輸及豎立風電渦輪機比預期困難得多。美國海域至今僅有約20多座渦輪機完成設置，相較之下，歐洲數十年來持續興建離岸風電場，渦輪機已逾6000座。

As a result, the cost of offshore wind energy will be higher than anticipated, and its climate and economic benefits will, in some cases, arrive years later than expected.

因此，美國離岸風能的成本將比預期還要高，而在部分案例中，其氣候和經濟利益會比預期遲到數年。

Some wind farms may be delayed. Others may never be built.

部分風力電場可能會延宕，有的可能永遠不會興建。

To date, Eastern states have awarded contracts to build roughly two dozen offshore wind farms with 21 gigawatts of electric capacity, or enough to meet the needs of more than 6 million homes. But developers have canceled or asked to renegotiate rates for nearly half that capacity.

截至目前，美國東部幾個州已發出要興建約20多座離岸風電場的合約，發電容量共計21百萬瓩，足以滿足600多萬戶住家需求。但這些發電量中有將近半數，開發商已喊停或要求重新協商費率。

Orsted, a Danish company that has built around two dozen offshore wind farms, mostly in Europe, has canceled two giant arrays planned for waters off New Jersey and is reconsidering two more intended to serve New York and Maryland. The company said it would be writing off as much as $5.6 billion. BP, which paid $1.1 billion for a 50% stake in the Norwegian energy company Equinor’s U.S. offshore wind portfolio in 2020, recently wrote off $540 million of its investment.

丹麥沃旭能源已經建造大約20多座離岸風電場，其中大多位於歐洲，該公司已取消在新澤西州外海計劃建造的兩座大型風力發電陣列，並正在重新考慮另外兩座旨在爲紐約州、馬里蘭州供電的風電場。該公司表示這會讓資產減損多達56億美元。英國石油公司於2020年斥資11億美元，收購挪威能源公司Equinor的美國離岸風電投資組合50%股分，最近將這項投資認列減損5.4億美元。

States like New York and Massachusetts are scrambling to save projects — and appear to be acknowledging that they will need to pay higher prices for the electricity generated by offshore turbines than they had expected.

紐約州、麻州等州正急忙設法挽救計劃，也似乎承認他們將需爲離岸風機產生的電力支付比預期更高價格。

Energy executives say the industry is learning from its mistakes and making investments that should pay off in the coming years. Dominion Energy, a large utility based in Virginia, is moving ahead with a massive wind farm and is spending $625 million on the first U.S.-built ship capable of hauling the more than 300-foot-long blades and other components for wind turbines out to sea.

能源業者高層說，產業正從錯誤中學習，會從事未來數年就應會回本的投資。道明尼能源公司是總部在維吉尼亞州的大型公用事業業者，正在推動一座大型風電場，並花費6.25億美元，打造第一艘能將300多英尺長葉片及其他風力渦輪機部件運送到海上的美國製船隻。

文／ Ivan Penn, Stanley Reed and Brad Plumer 譯／高詣軒