Trump administration has spent nearly $4B to cancel offshore wind farms

特朗普政府已斥资近 40 亿美元取消海上风电场项目

The Trump administration is paying another $1.2 billion to cancel an offshore wind lease, this time to German utility RWE. The energy company said in an announcement that the wind farms would have been built off the coasts of California, Louisiana, and New York. 特朗普政府再次支付 12 亿美元以取消一份海上风电租赁合同，此次的对象是德国公用事业公司莱茵集团（RWE）。该公司在公告中表示，这些风电场原计划建在加利福尼亚州、路易斯安那州和纽约州的海岸外。

Instead, RWE will spend $900 million to buy a small stake in a Louisiana liquid natural gas export terminal. The New York wind farm would have generated more than 3 gigawatts, according to Heatmap News. 作为替代方案，莱茵集团将斥资 9 亿美元收购路易斯安那州一个液化天然气出口终端的小额股份。据《Heatmap News》报道，纽约的风电场项目原可产生超过 3 吉瓦的电力。

The remaining $300 million will go toward buying natural gas turbines to power 15 peaking power plants around the country. Peaking power plants are among the most expensive and most polluting natural gas power plants to operate. It’s unclear when those will be completed — there’s currently a backlog for new turbines stretching into the early 2030s. 剩余的 3 亿美元将用于购买天然气涡轮机，为全国 15 座调峰电厂供电。调峰电厂是运营成本最高且污染最严重的天然气发电厂之一。目前尚不清楚这些项目何时能完工，因为新型涡轮机的订单积压已排到了 2030 年代初。

RWE isn’t backing off its offshore wind investments elsewhere, though. The company said it bought 6.9 gigawatts of capacity in the U.K.’s recent auction. 不过，莱茵集团并未放弃在其他地区的海上风电投资。该公司表示，在英国最近的拍卖中，他们购得了 6.9 吉瓦的发电容量。

The Trump administration has paid $3.93 billion for the 12 leases it has coaxed developers into abandoning. 特朗普政府已累计支付 39.3 亿美元，用于诱导开发商放弃 12 份租赁合同。