Wind power is breathing life into a new green economy on its coasts

風(fēng)力發(fā)電為沿海地區(qū)新的綠色經(jīng)濟(jì)注入了活力

Fears about the fate of European industry abound. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing gas crunch have dealt it a cruel blow. basf, the world’s largest chemicals-maker, is shifting production away from its headquarters in Ludwigshafen in Germany. Nearly a quarter of the country’s revered Mittelstand firms are reported to be considering moving part of their operations abroad. And even as energy prices have fallen back, America’s protectionist and subsidy-laden Inflation Reduction Act is feeding fresh worries that industry might be lured away from the old continent.

對(duì)歐洲工業(yè)命運(yùn)的擔(dān)憂比比皆是。俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭以及隨之而來的天然氣危機(jī)給歐洲帶來殘酷的打擊。世界上最大的化學(xué)品制造商巴斯夫正在將生產(chǎn)從德國(guó)路德維希港的總部轉(zhuǎn)移出去。據(jù)報(bào)道，該國(guó)近四分之一備受尊敬的中小型企業(yè)正在考慮將部分業(yè)務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)移到國(guó)外。即使能源價(jià)格已經(jīng)回落，美國(guó)的貿(mào)易保護(hù)主義和充斥著補(bǔ)貼的《降低通脹法案》正在引發(fā)新的擔(dān)憂，即工業(yè)可能會(huì)被吸引到歐洲大陸以外的地方。

One unlikely bright spot is the part of Europe with the grimmest weather. As we report this week, a new economy based on renewable energy is taking shape in and around the North Sea. Rather as hydropower fuelled Lancashire’s cotton mills and cheap coal the Ruhr valley’s steel furnaces in the early days of industrialisation, the promise of cheap, abundant wind power is attracting industry and infrastructure to Europe’s northern coasts. If this fledgling economy thrives, it could give the continent a new, greener industrial edge.

一個(gè)想不到的亮點(diǎn)是歐洲天氣最惡劣的地區(qū)。正如我們本周報(bào)道的那樣，基于可再生能源的新經(jīng)濟(jì)正在北海及其周邊地區(qū)形成。正如在工業(yè)化初期，水力發(fā)電為蘭開夏郡的棉紡廠提供了動(dòng)力，廉價(jià)煤炭則為魯爾谷的煉鋼廠提供了動(dòng)力一樣，廉價(jià)且大量的風(fēng)力發(fā)電前景正吸引工業(yè)和基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施向歐洲北部沿海地區(qū)轉(zhuǎn)移。如果這個(gè)新興的經(jīng)濟(jì)蓬勃發(fā)展，它可能會(huì)給歐洲大陸帶來一個(gè)新的、更環(huán)保的工業(yè)優(yōu)勢(shì)。

The North Sea’s strong winds and relative shallowness together make it a huge basin of potential energy. Thanks to taller and more powerful wind turbines, more efficient undersea cables and other technological advances, it is now increasingly being tapped. A group of nine countries near this body of water has plans to install 260gw of offshore wind power by 2050—nearly five times that produced worldwide today, and enough to power all of the European Union’s nearly 200m households.

北海的強(qiáng)風(fēng)和相對(duì)較淺的海水使它成為一個(gè)巨大的勢(shì)能盆地。由于更高、更強(qiáng)大的風(fēng)力渦輪機(jī)、更高效的海底電纜和其他技術(shù)進(jìn)步，它現(xiàn)在正被越來越多地利用。這片水域附近的9個(gè)國(guó)家計(jì)劃在2050年之前安裝260GW的海上風(fēng)力發(fā)電，這幾乎是目前全球風(fēng)力發(fā)電的5倍，且足以為歐盟近2億戶家庭提供電力。

All this is breathing life into a new coastal economy. Esbjerg, a town in south-west Denmark that some consider the capital of the North Sea economy, now boasts companies that make equipment to build and maintain wind turbines. Many once supplied the offshore-oil-and-gas industry, but have shifted their attention to greener customers.

所有這些都在為一個(gè)新的沿海經(jīng)濟(jì)注入活力。埃斯比約是丹麥西南部的一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)，一些人認(rèn)為它是北海經(jīng)濟(jì)的中心，現(xiàn)在該鎮(zhèn)以生產(chǎn)制造和維護(hù)風(fēng)力渦輪機(jī)設(shè)備的公司而自豪。許多公司曾為海上油氣行業(yè)提供服務(wù)，但它們現(xiàn)在已將注意力轉(zhuǎn)移到更環(huán)保的客戶上。

Nordic countries are beginning to attract energy-hungry battery plants and data centres. On Germany’s North Sea coast, a plan is afoot to build facilities to turn easier-to-transport ammonia into hydrogen, to fuel factories in nearby industrial parks. Even parts of steelmaking could eventually move north, as hydrogen replaces coal or gas in the manufacturing process.

北歐國(guó)家開始吸引高耗能的電池廠和數(shù)據(jù)中心。在德國(guó)的北海海岸，一項(xiàng)計(jì)劃正在進(jìn)行中，該計(jì)劃是建造一些設(shè)施，從而將更容易運(yùn)輸?shù)陌鞭D(zhuǎn)化為氫，為附近工業(yè)園區(qū)的工廠提供燃料。隨著氫氣在制造過程中取代煤炭或天然氣，甚至部分煉鋼業(yè)務(wù)最終也可能向北遷移。

For this economy to take off, though, Europe will need to focus its energies. A good start would be to cut red tape: getting a permit to build a new wind farm can take ten years, or even longer. Countries bordering the North Sea will need to work together to ensure that the seabed does not become overcrowded with cables and pipes and that infrastructure is looked after. The rise of the new coastal economy could be fiercely resisted in the old industrial heartlands. It will fall to governments to ease the transition.

然而，要使經(jīng)濟(jì)騰飛，歐洲需要集中精力。減少繁文縟節(jié)會(huì)是一個(gè)好的開始: 獲得建造一個(gè)新的風(fēng)力發(fā)電場(chǎng)的許可可能需要十年，甚至更長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。北海沿岸國(guó)家需要共同努力，確保海底不會(huì)因電纜和管道而變得過于擁擠，并確?；A(chǔ)設(shè)施得到妥善管理。新沿海經(jīng)濟(jì)的崛起可能會(huì)遭到舊工業(yè)中心地帶的強(qiáng)烈抵制。緩和這種過渡的責(zé)任將落在各國(guó)政府的肩上。

A favourable wind

The pay-off will be handsome. Done right, the North Sea economy could be a model for other parts of the continent, including the Iberian peninsula, with its huge solar potential. Such shifts in its economic geography will not only help Europe achieve its climate ambitions and rebalance its energy mix away from Russia and other autocracies: they could even give rise to the sort of green corporate giants that Europe badly needs.

回報(bào)將是豐厚的。如果做得好，北海經(jīng)濟(jì)可以成為歐洲大陸其他地區(qū)(包括擁有巨大的太陽(yáng)能潛力的伊比利亞半島)的一個(gè)典范。這種經(jīng)濟(jì)地理上的轉(zhuǎn)變不僅有助于歐洲實(shí)現(xiàn)其氣候野心，并重新平衡其能源結(jié)構(gòu)，減少對(duì)俄羅斯和其他專制國(guó)家的依賴: 它們甚至可能催生歐洲急需的那種綠色企業(yè)巨頭。