经济学人209:印度太阳能 等待着艳阳

 　　Business

　　商业报道

　　Solar power in India

　　印度太阳能

　　Waiting for the sun

　　等待着艳阳

　　Is the sun the answer to India's energy problems?

　　太阳能是印度能源问题的解决办法吗？

　　ON A salt plain near the border with Pakistan lies half a billion dollars' worth of solar-energy kit¹ paid for by firms from all over the world.

　　靠近巴基斯坦边界的一块盐地，安装了来自全球的公司价值五亿美元的太阳能设备。

　　A million panels stretch as far as the eye can see.

　　目所能及的就有一百万块太阳能板了。

　　Past a dishevelled brass² band is a tent crammed³ with 5,000 people who cheer when Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, declares the solar park open:

　　穿过一群散乱的铜管乐队就是一个挤满了正在欢庆的5000人帐篷区，此时，古吉拉特邦的首席部长纳伦德拉·莫迪宣布太阳能电厂正式运行，

　　I pray, sun god, that today Gujarat will show the way to the rest of the world for solar energy.

　　我希望太阳神庇护我们，今天古吉拉特邦将向世界其他地方展示通向太阳能的道路。

　　Despite the uncomfortable cult⁴ of personality around Mr Modi, Gujarat is an easy place to do business.

　　除了对莫迪的个人崇拜令人感到不舒服外，古吉拉特邦还是一个容易经商的地方。

　　And solar power would appear to be an obvious winner for India.

　　而太阳能仿佛令印度成为了最大的赢家。

　　The country has plenty of sun and flat, idle land.

　　印度境内有充沛的阳光和许多平坦闲置的用地。

　　India is energy-hungry, but electricity supply is sporadic⁵.

　　而它又是一个能源缺乏的国家，电力供应时常不足。

　　Costly⁶ diesel⁷ generators⁸ are popular. Solar power could replace them.

　　连昂贵的柴油发电机在这里也很畅销。

　　And solar parks, which look like giant Lego kits⁹, are easier to build than conventional power plants.

　　这方面太阳能可以替代。至于看上去像巨大的乐高积木桶的太阳能发电厂，比起建造传统的发电厂要容易多。

　　The new park, in a place called Charanka, has just over 200 megawatts of capacity running, making it the biggest site in India.

　　最新的电厂，建在Charanka，拥有超过200兆瓦发电量，使其成为印度最大的电力厂。

　　It took 16 months to build. No one builds nuclear power stations nearly that fast.

　　它花了16个月去建造，没有人能用这速度建造出原子能发电站。

　　Two other factors make an Indian solar boom seem possible.

　　还有两个原因使印度的太阳能得到广泛使用成为可能。

　　Conventional energy generation, which in India means burning cheap but dirty local coal, is a mess.

　　传统能源的生产十分混乱，在印度是通过燃烧便宜但污染大的煤炭来发电的。

　　Power stations charge local electricity boards 3-4 rupees per kilowatt¹⁰ hour.

　　发电站以每度电约3~4卢比卖给当地的供电局。

　　The state coal monopoly is unable to dig up enough of the black stuff, forcing power firms to buy pricier imported coal.

　　国家垄断了煤炭，却无法开采足够的量，这迫使能源公司购买更贵的进口煤炭。

　　Hopes that India might find abundant natural gas off its coast have been dashed.

　　印度期望能在远离海岸线的地方找到丰富的天然气的愿望已经破灭。

　　Many observers think the price of conventional power will have to rise to 5-6 rupees.

　　许多观测者认为传统能源价格将上升5~6卢比。

　　Meanwhile, the cost of solar equipment has fallen by a third since 2010, reckons Alan Rosling of Kiran Energy,

　　与此同时，一间由美国私募基金注资的太阳能公司—Kiran能源的阿兰?罗斯林指出，自2010年以后，

　　a solar firm backed by American private equity¹¹.

　　太阳能装备的花费已经下降了三分之一。

　　Cheaper solar and pricier conventional power have persuaded many that solar will soon be competitive without subsidies¹².

　　相对便宜的太阳能与较贵的传统能源令更多的人在没有补贴的情况下仍选择更有竞争力的太阳能。

　　V. Saibaba, the boss of Lanco Solar, a firm that makes and operates solar parks, says that by 2016 Indian solar will match the price of conventional electricity.

　　负责建造与运营太阳能发电厂的兰科太阳能公司的领导V. Saibaba说，到2016年印度的太阳能价格将接近传统电力的价格。

　　That should mean a building boom.

　　这意味着太阳能发电厂的建造潮将到来。

　　Sunil Gupta of Standard Chartered, a bank, reckons India's share of new global solar installations will rise from 1% this year to 5% by 2015.

　　渣打银行的Sunil Gupta指出，印度的太阳能设备安装量在全球的份额将从今年的1%上升到2015年的5%。

　　India's central government has set a target for 20,000MW of installed solar generation by 2022, from under 1,000MW today.

　　印度政府设定了一个指标，到2022年，安装的太阳能发电量将从现在的1000百万瓦以下上升到20,000百万瓦。

　　That would still represent a miserly 5% or less of total power-generation capacity in India,

　　这显得有点保守，因为这只是印度总发电量的5%，甚至更少。

　　and cost perhaps $30 billion-40 billion to build—a fraction of the investment in new coal-fired plants.

　　投资约300亿美元~400亿美元去建造太阳能发电厂，而这只是相当于投资于新建的火力发电站的一小部分。

　　So plenty of folk think the official target will be smashed.

　　所以很多人认为官方目标将难以达成。

　　D.J. Pandian, a civil servant in charge of energy policy in Gujarat, believes his state alone will easily reach 10,000MW of capacity in a decade.

　　D.J. Pandian，一位负责古吉拉特邦能源问题的官员则相信，单单古吉拉特邦在十年内就将轻易地达到10,000百万瓦的发电量。

　　But not everyone agrees.

　　但不是每一个人都认同。

　　Half of these plants won't be here in ten years, says a German boss at the new solar park—bad news,

　　这些厂的一半在十年内都不会建在这里，一位在新的太阳能发电厂的德国领导说。

　　since the contracts are for 25 years.

　　他指出，坏消息是，因为合同是25年，

　　Too many firms have cut corners, he reckons.

　　导致太多公司节省成本。

　　A Chinese executive raises his eyebrows¹³ at India's plans to force solar firms to buy some equipment locally.

　　一位中国执行官听了印度计划迫使太阳能公司购买当地的某些设备后扬起了眉毛。

　　The supply chain and economies of scale are not there, he says.

　　供应链以及经济规模还不理想。他说。

　　An American manager scoffs¹⁴: We've all been coming to India for years and they'll never get there…

　　一位美国经理调侃到，我们全部来印度已经多年了，清楚他们还没有达到那程度，

　　They don't have the infrastructure¹⁵.

　　他们没有基础设施。

　　The difficulty of getting plugged into the grid¹⁶ and a shortage of water to clean panels are common worries.

　　难以接入电网以及因水的短缺而致难以清理太阳能板是常见的忧虑。

　　Solar faces two other problems.

　　太阳能普及面对两个问题。

　　First, Gujarat's state government has guaranteed high prices of 15 rupees for the first 12 years of operation to solar producers,

　　第一个是，古吉拉特邦的政府要求确保太阳能生产商每度电15卢比的高价，作为第一个12年内的运营成本，

　　which should mean they make money.

　　这也意味着他们可以盈利。

　　But at the national level there is a separate system.

　　但在国家层面上仍有一个分流制。

　　It relies on reverse auctions¹⁸ in which those solar producers who commit to producing power at the lowest cost win the right to operate.

　　那些太阳能制造商是依靠逆向拍卖选出的，谁能用最低的成本生产能源，谁就能获得运营的权利。

　　In the second national solar auction¹⁷, of 350MW, in December, the winning firms committed themselves to selling solar power for as little as 7.5 rupees.

　　在12月的第二个国家级太阳能运营拍卖会，其产能为350百万瓦，竞拍成功的公司已经承诺，他们将用低至每度7.5卢比的价格卖太阳能。

　　Many people doubt that it is possible to make money at these prices.

　　很多人怀疑按这些价格到底能不能实现盈利。

　　An Indian engineer says the auction was a farce¹⁹ and that it is impossible to build a solid plant and operate it for less than 10 rupees.

　　一位印度工程师说拍卖会只是一场闹剧，建立一个固定的工厂并以低于每度10卢比的价格运营它，这是不可能的。

　　Firms bidding below, say, 8.5 rupees must assume that technology will improve, equipment prices will keep falling,

　　参与投标的厂商们也说，要是技术得到提升，而设备价格又持续下降，

　　or that they can make their sums work by borrowing cheap dollars rather than dear rupees.

　　或者说他们能通过借到廉价的美元而不是昂贵的卢比来总结工作。只有这样，每度电8.5卢比才显得有可能。

　　Second, if prices do not fall steeply, there may be little appetite for solar power.

　　此外，如果价格没有快速下降，可能很少人会愿意使用太阳能。

　　The grid is rickety.

　　电网也变得摇摇欲坠。

　　Many states' distribution firms are financial zombies.

　　许多国家的流通企业都是金融僵尸。

　　Today the cost of solar subsidies is hidden—pooled with the overall generation bill in states such as Gujarat or,

　　今天太阳能补贴的费用被隐藏了—像古吉拉特邦，统计在全部的账单中，或许，

　　for projects under the national scheme, buried in the finances of a big state-owned conventional power firm.

　　根据国家计划的项目，埋藏了一个大型的传统国有能源企业的资产。

　　Such bureaucratic²⁰ subterfuge²¹ works on a small scale.

　　像这些官僚式的托词只影响了一小范围。

　　But if the bill for solar swells²², it is not hard to imagine the kind of public backlash against subsidies that has hit cash-strapped Europe.

　　但要是太阳能的账单变大，不难想象，公众对补贴的不满将冲击欧洲的经济。

　　India's politicians may then start to ignore contracts.

　　印度的政客可能将开始不履行合约。

　　To solve India's energy problems, solar firms must deliver blindingly low prices.

　　要解决印度的能源问题，太阳能公司必须盲目地实现低价卖电。

1 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

2 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

3 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

4 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

5 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

8 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

10 kilowatt   

n.千瓦

参考例句：

• They pay thirty fen per kilowatt hour.他们每度电付三角钱。
• The watt is a small unit of power so that we use the kilowatt instead.瓦特是小功率的单位，因此我们用千瓦代之。

11 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

12 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

14 scoffs   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• [ Scoffs ] Why should a young girl like that love an old fart like me? 为什么一个那样的年轻女孩应该喜欢我这样的老家伙？
• The noise of the moment scoffs at the music of the Eternal. 瞬刻的喧声，讥笑着永恒的音乐。

15 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

16 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

17 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

18 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

19 farce   

n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹

参考例句：

• They played a shameful role in this farce.他们在这场闹剧中扮演了可耻的角色。
• The audience roared at the farce.闹剧使观众哄堂大笑。

20 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

21 subterfuge   

n.诡计；藉口

参考例句：

• European carping over the phraseology represented a mixture of hypocrisy and subterfuge.欧洲在措词上找岔子的做法既虚伪又狡诈。
• The Independents tried hard to swallow the wretched subterfuge.独立党的党员们硬着头皮想把这一拙劣的托词信以为真。

22 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。