Q0036
Distance affects far more than the cost of a cable. A longer connection increases capital cost, electrical losses, voltage and protection challenges, land and right-of-way requirements, permitting risk and construction time. However, the nearest substation is not necessarily the best connection point: a more distant node with available capacity, space and a simpler connection route can be cheaper and more deliverable overall.
A viable site needs both suitable land and a workable route to a suitable grid node. Developers that assess only straight-line distance risk acquiring sites whose connections are technically constrained, legally inaccessible or prohibitively expensive.
Distance affects a project through several channels:
1. Interconnector cost. Longer overhead lines or underground cables require more conductors, structures, civil works, joints, protection equipment and engineering.
2. Technology choice. Underground cables generally have less visual impact and a narrower permanent corridor, but usually cost more and can be harder to repair. Overhead lines require suitable clearances and wider rights of way but may be more economical over longer distances.
3. Electrical losses. Resistive losses increase with current and conductor length. Higher voltage or larger conductors can reduce losses, but increase equipment and connection costs.
4. Voltage performance. Long connections can produce voltage drop when supplying load and voltage rise when exporting generation. Reactive-power equipment or different connection voltages may be necessary.
5. Protection and communications. Longer or more complex connections may require differential protection, fibre-optic communications, additional switching equipment and coordination with protection at other substations.
6. Land and right-of-way risk. The practical route may cross many titles, roads, waterways, plantations, environmentally sensitive areas or existing utilities. The buildable distance can therefore be much longer than the map distance.
7. Planning and permitting. Additional landowners and authorities increase the risk of objections, route changes and delays.
8. Reliability. A longer dedicated line creates more exposure to weather, vegetation, third-party damage and equipment failure. A sensitive industrial load may require redundant circuits, further increasing cost.
9. Construction schedule. Substation works, cable routes and transmission outages must be coordinated. Route acquisition can take longer than construction of the generation or industrial facility itself.
10. Future expansion. A connection sized only for the first phase may become a bottleneck if the project later adds generation, BESS, production lines or data halls.
For Malaysian LSS projects, the developer is generally responsible for its interconnector and the associated land or rights of way. The Energy Commission’s LSS guideline expressly identifies proximity to transmission infrastructure as important because connection costs can otherwise become prohibitive. It also requires distribution-connected developers to acquire rights of way for their underground or aerial cable routes. Energy Commission: LSS Connection Guideline
For electricity-consuming developments, TNB determines the supply arrangement according to declared maximum demand, security requirements and network capability. Large developments may need land for distribution or transmission substations as well as cable routes and transmission wayleaves. TNB: Connection Guidelines
A good comparison should therefore examine the total connection solution, not simply kilometres to the nearest substation:
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