VOA新闻杂志2022 美国拍卖东海岸风电开发权获创纪录报价

The U.S. government says a sale of wind energy development rights off the East Coast has received record-setting offers.

美国政府表示，东海岸风能开发权拍卖已经收到了创纪录的报价。

The auction¹ sale began February 23. Energy companies are offering to buy the development rights for six areas that total more than 197,000 hectares. The areas are off the coasts of the states of New Jersey² and New York in what is called the New York Bight.

这次拍卖于2月23日开始。能源企业可以购买6个地区的开发权，其总面积超过了19.7万公顷。这些地区位于新泽西州和纽约州海岸以外，即所谓的纽约湾。

By early Friday, the offers, or bids, totaled nearly $4 billion.

到周五早些时候，出价总和接近40亿美元。

It is the first offshore³ wind lease sale under President Joe Biden's administration. Biden has pushed for more wind energy. It is an important part of his administration's plans to deal with climate change. The administration has said the goal is to create jobs in the United States.

这是拜登政府执政期间第一笔海上风电租赁交易。拜登推动了更多风能项目。这是拜登政府应对气候变化计划的重要组成部分。拜登政府曾表示，其目标是在美国创造就业机会。

Europe depends more on energy from wind than North America and has more offshore wind farms.

欧洲比北美更依赖风能，并且拥有更多的海上风电场。

There are currently two small offshore wind farms in the United States off the coasts of Rhode Island and Virginia. Two larger projects were recently approved for development.

美国目前在罗德岛和弗吉尼亚海岸附近有两个小型的海上风电场。最近有两个较大的项目获得了开发许可。

Fred Zalcman is the director of the New York Offshore Wind Alliance. He said, "We're really just at the beginning of a process here." He added that the organization hopes to learn from Europe and gain from Europe's cost savings⁴ from wind farming.

弗雷德·扎尔克曼是纽约海上风电联盟的负责人。他说：“我们正处于风电开发过程的起始阶段。”他还表示，该组织希望学习欧洲，并从欧洲风电场节约成本的经验中受益。

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) oversees⁵ energy development in federal waters. It is offering the six leases for the areas in the New York Bight.

美国海洋能源管理局负责监督联邦水域的能源开发。它为纽约湾地区的风电场提供了6份租约。

The sale is the largest U.S. offshore wind auction ever held. The administration has said the energy produced from the areas could one day power nearly 2 million homes.

此次拍卖是美国有史以来规模最大的海上风电拍卖。政府表示，这些地区产生的电力有朝一日可以为近200万户家庭供电。

The sale was carried out online. BOEM's website reported the bids. The total is larger than recent combined offers for U.S. government offshore oil and gas sales in the Gulf⁶ of Mexico.

此次拍卖是在网上进行。美国海洋能源管理局的网站报道了这些竞标。总额要高于美国政府最近拍卖墨西哥湾海上油气资源获得的总报价。

The earlier U.S. offshore wind development auction record was set in 2018. It was valued at $405 million.

美国之前的海上风电开发拍卖记录是在2018年创下的。它的价值为4.05亿美元。

BOEM reportedly said 14 companies were involved in the auction. Government documents showed that approved bidders⁷ included parent companies Equinor ASA, Avangrid Inc, BP Plc, and Eletricite de France SA, among others.

据报道，美国海洋能源管理局声称有14家公司参与了此次拍卖。政府文件显示，获准投标人的母公司包括挪威石油公司、Avangrid Inc、英国石油公司和法国电力公司等等。

Under the rules of the auction, each company can only win one lease.

根据拍卖规则，每家公司只能拍得一份租约。

Before the sale started, there were 25 possible bidders. The area up for auction is 22 percent smaller than first proposed because of fishing industry and military concerns.

在拍卖开始前有25家潜在竞标人。由于渔业和军事方面的考虑，拍卖面积比原定面积缩水了22%。

Zalcman said that state and federal officials have been considering the concerns of other groups. These include the fishing, shipping⁸ and boat transportation industries. Officials also said they studied the environmental effects on animals and how the farms will appear from the coast.

扎尔克曼表示，州和联邦官员一直在考虑其它团体的担忧。其中包括渔业、航运和船舶运输业。有关官员表示，他们研究了环境对动物的影响，以及风电场在岸上的观感。

A group representing people in New Jersey brought a legal case against BOEM over the plans. It said the large wind farms would reduce the number of visitors to the area, hurting the area's economy and property values.

一家代表新泽西州民众的团体就该计划对美国海洋能源管理局提起了法律诉讼。它说，大型风电场会减少该地区的游客数量，损害该地区的经济和房产价值。

How developers design the wind farms will be subject to another intense debate.

开发商如何设计风电场将引发另一场激烈争论。

1 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。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

4 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

5 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

6 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

7 bidders   

n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Bidders should proceed only if they intend on using a PayPal account to complete payment. Bidders的唯一形式，应继续只当他们在使用贝宝帐户，以完成付款打算。 来自互联网
• The other bidders for the contract complained that it had not been a fair contest. 其他竞标人抱怨说该合同的竞标不公平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。