Floating Windmills Raise Energy Prospects in Japan
海上風力發電 日本新選項
By Hiroko Tabuchi

OFF THE COAST OF FUKUSHIMA, Japan – Twenty kilometers out to sea from the severely damaged and leaking nuclear reactors at Fukushima, a giant floating wind turbine signals the start of Japan’s most ambitious bet yet on clean energy.
在嚴重損毀並洩出輻射水的福島核電廠外海20公里處，矗立起一座巨大的浮動風力渦輪機，象徵日本開發潔淨能源最具企圖心的押注行動已然揭開序幕。

When this 100-meter-tall windmill begins operating this month, it is expected to generate enough electricity to power 1,700 homes. But the goal is to generate over 1 gigawatt of electricity from 140 wind turbines by 2020. That is equivalent to the power generated by a nuclear reactor.
這座高100公尺的風力機預定本月開始運轉，生產電力可供1700個家庭使用。然而終極目標是，至2020年時以140座風力機合計發電逾1000百萬瓦，相當於一個核電機組。

Japan has been forced to look more seriously at renewable power after its multiple nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima in 2011. All Japan’s 50 reactors are all currently down, awaiting inspections.
福島核電廠2011年發生多次反應爐爐心熔毀的嚴重事故後，日本即被迫以更嚴肅的態度來面對開發再生電力的問題。日本現有的50座反應爐目前全部停機待檢。

The windmill project’s backers say that offshore windmills could be a breakthrough for this energy-poor nation. They would enable Japan to use a resource it possesses in abundance: its coastline, which is longer than that of the United States.
風力發電計畫的支持者表示，外海的風力機可使能源匱乏的日本突困而出。它讓日本得以利用一種豐沛的資源：比美國還長的海岸線。

The project is also a bid to seize the initiative in an industry expected to double over the next five years to a global capacity of 536 gigawatts, according to the industry trade group Global Wind Energy Council.
風力發電產業機構「全球風能協會」估計，全球風力發電容量未來五年料可增加一倍，達到53.6萬百萬瓦。日本的計畫另一用意是在風力發電領域占得先機。

“It’s Japan’s biggest hope,” said Hideo Imamura, a spokesman for the company Shimizu. “It’s an all-Japan effort, almost 100 percent Japan-made.”
清水建設發言人今村秀夫說：「它是日本的最大希望所繫。它是純日本的嘗試，幾乎百分百日本建造。」

What sets the project apart from other offshore wind farms around the world, is that its turbines, and even the substation and electrical transformer equipment, float on giant platforms anchored to the seabed. That technology greatly expands potential locations for offshore wind farms.
該計畫不同於全球各地其他海上風力發電場的特色是，風力機乃至變電所與電力轉換設備漂浮在附著於海床的巨大平台上。這種技術使可設置海上風力發電場的地點大幅增加。

Harnessing wind in deeper waters off Japan could generate as much as 1,570 gigawatts of electricity, roughly eight times the current capacity of all of Japan’s power companies combined, according to computer simulations at Tokyo University.
根據東京大學的電腦模擬，在日本外海深水區捕捉風力可為日本帶來157萬百萬瓦的電力，相當於日本現今所有電力公司發電容量總和的八倍。

But Paul J. Scalise, also at the University of Tokyo, said forecasts needed to be adjusted for load factors, disruptions to sea lanes and opposition from fishermen. He estimates Japan’s offshore wind generation potential is far lower.
然而同樣服務於東京大學的史卡里斯說，預測必須兼顧各項負載因素、水道可能受到的干擾與漁民的反對。他認為，日本的海上風力發電潛力遠低於現有的估計。

“We shouldn’t forget the obvious reality check,” he said. “The farther from the coast they place these floating wind farms, the more expensive it becomes to build them and transmit the power back to Japan.”
他說：「我們不應該忘記現實世界裡明顯的負面因素。海上風力發電場距離陸地越遠，建造與將電力送回日本所需的成本就越高。」

Nine-tenths of Japan’s potential capacity to generate clean energy comes from wind energy, according to the Environment Ministry. Norway and Portugal are also experimenting with small-scale, floating wind farms, but Japan’s project is set to be the largest.
日本環境省表示，日本生產乾淨能源的容量9/10來自風能。挪威與葡萄牙也正在試驗比較小型的海上風力發電場，日本的規模則會最大。

The biggest challenge for the Fukushima project comes from local fishermen, who have not been able to fish since the disaster and who fear that the project will take away their fishing grounds.
福島這項計畫最大挑戰來自當地漁民。他們自福島核災發生後即無法出海捕魚，也擔心風電計畫搶走他們的漁場。

Cost is another big issue. Building the first three turbines comes to about $20,000 a kilowatt, about eight times the cost of building a wind turbine on land.
成本是另外一個大問題。建造前三座風力機的成本大約每千瓦二萬美元，相當於在陸地建造一座風力機所需成本的八倍。

Durability is the third large question mark. Shimizu, the construction company, says the turbine’s blades have been designed to last at least two decades. But Mr. Imamura at Shimizu acknowledges no one is certain how long, or how well, the turbines will hold up.
耐久性是第三個大問號。清水建設表示，風力機渦輪葉片依設計應可使用20年以上。不過今村秀夫表示，沒有人敢確定這些風力機可以撐多久，表現又會如何。

But the possible rewards are exciting executives. Yasuhiro Sato, chief of Mizuho Financial Group, told a government panel this year that the roughly 20,000 parts used in offshore wind turbines could add billions of yen to Japan’s economy.
然而可能的回報還是令相關主管興奮不已。瑞穗金融集團社長佐藤康博今年向日本政府的一個專案小組表示，海上風力機使用的兩萬個零組件，可望為日本創造數十億乃至上百億日圓的經濟收益。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/25/business/international/to-expand-offshore-power-japan-builds-floating-windmills.html

2013-11-12聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報七版上