走出能源困境非洲需加大改革力度

2014-10-23 15:03:58来源：可可英语

　　Africa has long been plagued by the resource curse, where abundant oil, gas and minerals inplaces like Equatorial Guinea or the Republic of Congo have made a select few rich, led towidespread corruption and left the majority of citizens poor. The energy resources havealso sparked conflict in countries such as Sudan and Nigeria, and have contributed to years ofcoups and political unrest.

　　长期以来，非洲一直处于能源困境。像赤道几内亚或刚果共和国等石油、天然气和矿产资源丰富的国家，有极少的一部分人富了起来，但这些国家腐败泛滥，多数市民仍处于贫困之中。此外，能源资源是苏丹和尼日尼亚等国家地缘冲突的导火索，同时也是该地区长年发生政变和政治动荡的原因之一。

　　That trend is set to continue, the IEA report said, unless countries tackle the range ofproblems that hinder the energy sector, from widespread oil theft (worth $5 billion a year inNigeria) to electricity tariffs across the region, which are among the highest in the world.Corruption, too, remains a “major barrier” to investment in some countries.

　　国际能源署的报告中显示，除非各国采取措施应对能源领域的一系列问题，比如解决盛行的石油偷盗(每年为尼日利亚造成损失达50亿美元)和降低电价(这里是全球电价最高的地区之一)，否则情况还会继续恶化。另外，腐败仍是在一些国家投资的“主要障碍”。

　　“There are two major issues here — the lack of investment and the second one is thegovernance issue,” Birol said of the need for about $140 million a year across the region forthe energy sector.

　　“这里存在两个主要的掣肘——投资匮乏以及政府管理问题，”比罗尔表示，该地区能源业每年需要大约1.4亿美元的投资。

　　“There are investments coming into the region but our study shows that today $2 out of $3 inAfrica is for export-related projects not for the Africans,” he said. “We don’t see theinvestments can come if the governance issue is not fixed.”

　　“有一些投资进入该地区，但是我们的研究显示，目前非洲有三分之二的投资都是出口相关项目，而不是服务于非洲人民，”他评价说，“在我们看来，如果政府管理问题得不到解决，就不可能吸引投资。”

　　Meike van Ginneken, a World Bank expert on energy for west and central Africa, said she saw alot of potential for hydropower, geothermal and natural gas across the region but agreed“investment needed to be increased tremendously” especially from the private sector and thebuilding of power delivery systems.

　　世界银行(World Bank)中西非能源专家梅克o范o辛内肯认为，该地区的水电、地热和天然气开发潜力巨大，但是她同时承认“这需要增加大量的投资”，尤其是来自于私营部门的投资，还需要加强电力输送系统的建设。

　　“The question is how do you translate these large resources into increased access?” VanGinneken said. “What you need for that is a lot of infrastructure, functioning utilities and a lot ofmoney. While there is a lot investment in energy in Africa in the past five years, there has aperiod of two decades where there was very little investment. So, Africa is catching up.”

　　“问题是，如何将这些巨量的资源转变为更多的电力供应?”范o辛内肯说，“这就需要大量的基础设施、高效的公用事业部门以及大量的投资。过去二十年来对非洲的投资非常少，但最近五年来能源投资的规模较大。所以，非洲正在迎头赶上。”

　　To ensure that the energy resources improve living standards and contribute to strongereconomic growth by 2040, the report calls for investment of an additional $450 billion in thepower sector. It also calls for regional cooperation that could lead to large-scale generationand transmission projects as well as the adoption of “robust and transparent” processes thatwould result in “more effective use” of oil and gas revenues.

　　该报告指出，为了确保到2040年非洲的能源资源有效改善该地区的生活水平，并且促进经济增长，需要对能源部门增加4,500亿美元的投资。此外，该报告还呼吁，进行区域合作来促成大规模的发电及输电项目，以及采取“严格透明”的管理流程来“更为有效地利用”油气收入。

　　As part of its $11 billion in energy investments in Africa, van Ginneken said the World Bank hassupported regional cooperation including the $261 million in guarantees this year for theBanda Gas-to-Power Project which will produce and convert natural gas from offshore gasfields in Mauritania into 300 megawatts of new electricity for the country and for export to Maliand Senegal.

　　范o辛内肯指出，作为110亿美元能源投资的一部分，世界银行对区域合作的支持包括今年为班达天然气发电项目(Banda Gas-to-Power Project)提供的2.61亿美元担保，该项目利用毛里塔尼亚近海天然气田的天然气，可为该国新增300兆瓦电力，并可出口到马里和塞内加尔。

　　They are also investing in regional transmission grids and setting up rural electrificationprojects including min-grids and off-grid solar power.

　　这些项目还包括对区域电网及农村电气化改造的投资，如微型电网和离网太阳能发电。

　　“Regional cooperation and regional power grids will play an important role in bringing downcost which will make it more attractive for the private sector and more affordable forhouseholds,” van Ginneken said.

　　范o辛内肯进一步介绍说：“区域合作和搭建区域电网在降低成本方面非常关键，对私营部门更具吸引力，家庭用户也更容易负担。”

　　If some of the changes are enacted, renewables could also take off with the IEA projectingthey could represent almost half the growth in electricity generation by 2040. Hydro, forexample, represents 20% of the region’s power supply currently but only 10% of its technicalpotential has been realized.

　　如果实施一些变革，可再生能源也可以迎来新的发展机遇。据国际能源署预计，到2040年，可再生能源将占新增电力的一半左右。例如，水电目前占电力供给的20%，但仅有10%的技术潜力得到了利用。

　　Alex Rugamba, director of the Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department at theAfrican Development Bank, agreed that renewables offer a chance for the continent to pursuea greener path than the one chose by its more developed neighbors.

　　非洲开发银行(African Development Bank)能源、环境及气候变化部门(Energy, Environment andClimate Change Department)主任阿历克斯o鲁甘马指出，他也承认，对可再生能源的利用，将使得非洲有望走上比其周边的发达国家更为环保的发展道路。

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