Spatial rent (annuity) makes it possible to estimate the economic value resulting from the use of space for a given type of activity. This article provides calculations of spatial rent in regard to offshore wind energy development and proposes a data-driven approach for optimizing spatial management strategies, ultimately contributing to more informed decision-making processes in marine spatial management. It analyses seven projects that could be developed in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea as part of Poland’s energy transition. The article employs a robust methodology that integrates technoeconomic analysis and financial forecasting to calculate spatial rent by discounting net cash flows. The calculations are carried out for two windiness scenarios, with the results of the weighted average annual energy production ranging from 38.02 GWh/km2 to 40.56 GWh/km2. Such energy production could yield an annual spatial rent of 10.72 million €/km2 to 13.30 million €/km2.
From the middle of the first decade of the 2000s protests by residents against the siting of wind turbines took place in all regions of Poland. The actions taken by anti-windmill groups were addressed to institutions at all levels of government and argued by the negative impact of windmills on acoustic environment, health, property values, and landscape. The aim of this article is to identify the characteristics of the anti-windmill movement in Poland in relation to the concept of new social movements. Based on analyses of the local press, a literature review, and other sources, the activity of the protesters, their impact on the image of wind energy in the local media, the motivations of the protests, and their consequences were all discussed. The protesters took a variety of actions against the siting of wind turbines from the typically formal to the highly informal, taking care to publicise them, thus shaping a negative image of wind energy in the local media. Locally, there were numerous groups of protesting residents who fought for a solution to a specific problem related to the location of a wind turbine, with different motivations for the protests. These groups gained the support of local residents and intervened with local authorities. On the supra-local level, there were several organisations whose aim was to establish restrictive distances of windmills from residential development. Their activities were supported by conservative party politicians. They negated the EU climate policy and global warming.