This paper explores the potential to reduce the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of offshore wind technology through the use of digitalized financial innovations made possible by Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). Specifically, this paper proposed a novel application of DLT to crowdsource project finance for clean energy projects. An introduction to DLT technology and some of its potential applications is provided first. Next, the potential to move from a more centralized, top-down energy system to a more decentralized, two-way transactive energy system enabled by DLT is discussed. Within this new energy system framework, the idea of crowd-sourced equity funding of the capital cost of renewable energy is introduced. The impact of crowdfunded equity on the LCOE is then explored via the creation of a theoretical offshore wind installation off the coast of New Jersey. An existing offshore wind capital cost model is modified for use in the U.S., and an existing wind annual energy production model is utilized to provide inputs into a LCOE model. Finally, the potential impacts that DLT based crowdfunded equity may have on cost of debt, debt tenor, and debt-to-equity ratio are also input into the LCOE model in order to examine the range of potential impacts it may have on offshore wind LCOE.

中文翻译：

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基于区块链的股权众筹对海上风能投资经济可行性的潜在影响

本文探讨了通过使用分布式账本技术 (DLT) 实现的数字化金融创新来降低海上风电技术平准化电力成本 (LCOE) 的潜力。具体而言，本文提出了 DLT 在清洁能源项目众包项目融资中的新应用。首先介绍 DLT 技术及其一些潜在应用。接下来，讨论了由 DLT 支持的从更集中、自上而下的能源系统转变为更分散、双向交互能源系统的潜力。在这个新能源系统框架内，引入了可再生能源资本成本的众包股权融资的想法。然后通过在新泽西海岸附近创建理论上的海​​上风电装置来探索众筹股权对 LCOE 的影响。修改现有的海上风电资本成本模型以供在美国使用，并利用现有的风能年度能源生产模型为 LCOE 模型提供输入。最后，基于 DLT 的众筹股权可能对债务成本、债务期限和债务权益比率的潜在影响也被输入到 LCOE 模型中，以检查它可能对海上风电 LCOE 产生的潜在影响范围.