Screen land for projects near a grid connection
Early solar and storage screening asks a simple question first: where is there enough open land close to a substation, outside protected areas? This example runs that screen across the Kakheti region of Georgia with OpenStreetMap data.
Farmland near substations in Kakheti, Georgia
Data: OpenStreetMap land use (farmland, vineyard, orchard, meadow), power substations and protected areas
Method: keep land-use blocks of at least 20 ha, within 2 km of a substation, and outside every protected area
-- Land-use blocks >= 20 ha, within 2 km of a substation, outside protected areas, inside Kakheti
WITH kakheti AS (
SELECT geom FROM osm.place_polygon WHERE osm_id = -2000091
),
substations AS (
SELECT geom FROM osm.infrastructure_point
WHERE osm_type = 'power' AND osm_subtype = 'substation' AND geom && ST_MakeEnvelope(44.9, 41.0, 46.8, 42.6, 4326)
UNION ALL
SELECT ST_Centroid(geom) FROM osm.infrastructure_polygon
WHERE osm_type = 'power' AND osm_subtype = 'substation' AND geom && ST_MakeEnvelope(44.9, 41.0, 46.8, 42.6, 4326)
),
protected AS (
SELECT geom FROM osm.place_polygon
WHERE boundary IN ('protected_area', 'national_park') AND geom && ST_MakeEnvelope(44.9, 41.0, 46.8, 42.6, 4326)
)
SELECT l.osm_id, l.osm_type AS land_use,
ROUND((ST_Area(l.geom::geography) / 10000)::numeric, 1) AS hectares, l.geom
FROM osm.landuse_polygon AS l, kakheti AS k
WHERE l.osm_type IN ('farmland', 'meadow', 'vineyard', 'orchard')
AND l.geom && k.geom AND ST_Intersects(l.geom, k.geom)
AND ST_Area(l.geom::geography) >= 200000
AND EXISTS (
SELECT 1 FROM substations AS s
WHERE s.geom && ST_Expand(l.geom, 0.03)
AND ST_DWithin(l.geom::geography, s.geom::geography, 2000)
)
AND NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM protected AS p WHERE ST_Intersects(l.geom, p.geom));
Each rule is one line of the query, so changing a threshold is a visible edit. The && box tests let the indexes narrow the search before the exact distance is measured.
OpenStreetMap maps land use, not parcels, so a single block can cover thousands of hectares.
Run it on your data
Upload your candidate parcels in place of the OpenStreetMap land use, and your own substations or assets in place of the substations step; the three rules stay the same. See supported files and spreadsheets.
Frequently asked questions
Does being near a substation mean a site can connect?
No. Proximity is one screening rule. Capacity and interconnection need data from the network operator.
Can I change a threshold and compare?
Edit the number in the query and run it again. Each run produces a new layer for comparison.