What it costs to maintain a SWER line, and why SAPS is often cheaper

Single wire earth return lines exist because extending three-phase to a few remote customers never stacked up. But the marginal SWER line is not free: it is inspections, vegetation management, fault response, bushfire risk and replacement of ageing conductor, often to serve a handful of connections. A stand-alone power system can remove the line while keeping the customer reliably supplied. Here is the way to compare.

The cost of keeping the line (build your real number):

– Vegetation and easement management, per km per year.

– Inspection and maintenance, per km per year.

– Fault response and reliability penalties on a long, exposed feeder.

– Bushfire mitigation and liability exposure.

– Eventual conductor and pole replacement (capital).

The SAPS alternative:

– A utility-grade SAPS (Vantara) supplies the customer with solar, storage and backup, sized to their load and autonomy.

– The marginal line comes out of service, removing its ongoing maintenance, fault and bushfire exposure. – Deployment is repeatable across many sites with Vantara Rapid.

When SAPS wins: the longer and more marginal the line, the fewer the customers, and the higher the bushfire and maintenance exposure, the stronger the SAPS case. This is exactly the analysis behind programs like Essential Energy’s SAPS rollout.

Have a marginal line in mind? We will scope the SAPS case with you.