In Europe, Supergrid is Facing Obstacles

打造歐洲超級輸電網障礙重重

By Beth Gardiner

LONDON – Advocates of renewable energy say an electricity supergrid could enhance the clean-power industry by connecting power sources like wind farms in Scotland and solar arrays in Spain or North Africa to the population centers of Europe.
提倡再生能源的人士說，超級電力輸送系統可以把蘇格蘭風力發電廠、西班牙、北非等地的太陽能電廠與歐洲的人口中心連為一體，進而大幅提升強化潔淨能源產業。

The technical arguments for a significantly expanded and upgraded power network in Europe are clear, they say. Yet the political, regulatory and economic obstacles are formidable.
他們指出，大幅拓展並提升歐洲電力系統之必要性在技術面上毋庸多言，政治、法規與經濟方面的障礙卻不易克服。

A supergrid “is absolutely essential” if Europe is to make widespread use of clean power supplies and significantly cut its emissions of atmosphere-warming carbon dioxide, said Doug Parr, chief scientist at the British arm of Greenpeace, the environmental group.
環保組織「綠色和平」英國分部首席科學家帕爾表示，如果歐洲有意廣泛使用潔淨的電力，同時大幅減少溫室氣體二氧化碳的排放量，超級輸電系統「絕對有必要」。

But “it’s not garnering political weight and support,” he said. “Things are proceeding, but they could proceed a little quicker if there was buy-in at a higher level” among the European Union’s institutions in Brussels.
帕爾又說：「這項構想迄未取得政治上的分量與支持。事情持續推進中，不過如果布魯塞爾的歐盟各相關機構更高層予以支持，進展可能會快一些。」

With its windy weather, Britain could be a big beneficiary of better international power connections, eventually exporting energy to Continental Europe, experts in the renewable energy sector say. Supergrid advocates hoped London would be a driving force behind the idea, but they have not seen a significant push from the government of Prime Minister David Cameron, said Ana Aguado, chief executive of Friends of the Supergrid, an advocacy group in Brussels made up of companies that would help build the international network.
再生能源專家指出，如果國際電力輸送網變得更加完善，多風的英國可能會大大受益，最後並可向歐洲大陸輸出能源。提倡超級輸電系統的人士期望倫敦當局能夠成為推動這個構想的驅動力量。不過布魯塞爾民間組織「超級輸電系統之友」執行長安娜‧艾加度指出，他們迄未看到卡麥隆首相領導的英國政府大力推動此事。「超級輸電系統之友」由願意協助各國政府建構此一國際輸電系統的民間企業共同組成。

Britain is working with countries including France, Germany, Norway and Sweden to negotiate the North Sea Countries Offshore Grid Initiative, a planned network of underwater cables that would connect offshore wind farms and other power sources to nearby countries. The project, likely to take decades, is seen as a potential building block for a broader European grid that could eventually stretch from Ireland to the Baltic states and as far south as North Africa, carrying large power loads on highly efficient direct-current cables.
「北海國家外海輸電系統方案」擬有一套鋪設海底電纜網絡的方案，用以連接外海風力發電廠與附近的國家。英國正在與包括法國、德國、挪威、瑞典在內的相關國家磋商該方案。這可能得費時數十年才能實現。專家認為，此案可能是建構更廣泛歐洲輸電系統的基礎。這套輸電系統最終可能自愛爾蘭延伸至波羅的海國家，最南可達到非洲北部，並以高效率的直流電電纜輸送龐大的電力負載。

Some cross-border power connections exist, but many European countries still produce and supply most of their own electricity or have links to just one other country. Experts say a richer cross-border network will reduce power prices for consumers and make supplies more secure by promoting competition and distributing surplus production more efficiently.
目前已經有一些跨國電力輸送系統存在，然而許多歐洲國家還是自行生產並供應所需的大部分電力，或者只與另外一個國家連接。專家指出，更廣泛的跨國輸電系統必能因為促進競爭，以及更有效率的分配多餘電力而使電價降低，電力供應更穩定。

Potential energy-producing areas, like the windy coasts of Scotland and Ireland and the deserts of North Africa, are often far from larger cities with their power-hungry consumers.
一些潛在的能源產區，包括多風的蘇格蘭、愛爾蘭沿海地區及北非沙漠，往往與需電若渴的較大型城市相距甚遠。

Broad networks could also help ease one of renewable energy’s biggest problems: intermittency. When the wind drops in Britain, it may still be strong in Germany, or the sun may be shining in Tunisia. Households drawing power from a grid thousands of kilometers wide are less likely to be affected by the vagaries of any individual source. That in turn means less need for expensive backup generating capacity from power plants that use natural gas or coal.
廣泛的電力輸送網還有助於解決再生能源的最大問題之一：間歇性。如果英國的風力減弱，德國的風力可能還很強，或者突尼西亞仍然陽光普照。家戶所需電力如果來自涵蓋範圍寬達數千公里的電力輸送網，就比較不會因為任何個別來源的變異而受到影響。這意味比較不必仰賴通常使用天然氣或煤的昂貴備用發電能量。

The Energy and Climate Change Committee of Britain’s main parliamentary chamber, the House of Commons, said in a report in September that a drastically improved grid would be crucial for the viability of the country’s plans for significant investment in offshore wind power.
英國國會下議院「能源與氣候變遷委員會」在去年九月發表的一項報告中指出，輸電系統大幅改善，是英國大手筆投資開發外海風力的方案能否存活的重要關鍵。

For now, Britain “is virtually an energy island,” the report said, adding that the current approach of linking each offshore wind farm directly to land, rather than to a wider network, was costly and inefficient. But the report listed several caveats about the development of a Europe-wide grid, saying the cost would probably be high and the challenge of coordinating national energy regulations would be daunting.
報告指出，以目前而言，英國有如一個「能源島」。報告又說，把各外海風力發電廠直接與陸地連接，而不是連上更廣泛系統的現行辦法，既昂貴效率又低。不過報告同時列出發展跨歐洲輸電系統的數項阻礙，指出成本可能很高，協調各國的相關法規也將困難重重。

Tim Yeo, the committee’s Conservative chairman, said that better connections would give the British energy industry access to big markets. It would also enable the country to make more use of wind power domestically by ensuring that imported power would be available in calm weather.
能源與氣候變遷委員會的保守黨籍主席葉奧指出，更妥善連接可讓英國能源產業打進大市場。它還可以使英國確保風力微弱期間，仍能取得進口電力，進而提高國內的風力電力使用比例。

But he warned that because energy is a heavily regulated sector, one of the biggest obstacles to building a supergrid is the long negotiations required to bridge differences among individual countries’ rules.
不過他指出，由於能源是受到嚴格管理控制的區塊，建構超級輸電系統之前必須克服的主要障礙之一是，必須進行旨在縮小各國法規差異的冗長談判。

The estimated price tag varies widely; James Cox of Poyry, a Finnish engineering and management consulting firm, said a wide-reaching grid could cost 100 billion euros, or about $127 billion.
專家估計的建構成本相差甚大。芬蘭貝利工程及管理顧問公司的柯克斯說，覆蓋範圍大的的輸電系統成本可能達到1000億歐元（約1270億美元）。

Advocates say new linkups are likely to happen piecemeal, between pairs of countries or through regional projects.
倡議者指出，新的連結很可能一塊塊建立，先出現在國與國之間，或者透過區域方案產生。

“The question is, is it going to be done efficiently, and is it going to be done in the most sensible way,” Mr. Parr of Greenpeace U.K. said. “It could get very expensive if it’s not done right.”
帕爾說：「問題在於是否以有效率的方式推動，以及能否以最合理的方式推動。如果做得不對，成本可能會非常高。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/business/global/17iht-rbog-grid17.html

2012-02-28聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯原文參見紐時週報七版上