User:Sir Fendi

Hello! Welcome to my page! I am a contributor of Alt-F4 and my reddit account is here.

Here is a new page I am currently working on, inspired by Tutorial:Transport_use_cases:

Tutorial: Comparing Power Production Technologies

Overview

In vanilla Factorio, electric power can be produced from steam engines, steam turbines, and solar panels. Solar panels directly output power obtained from sunlight, while steam engines and steam turbines run by consuming steam, which can be produced in boilers or in heat exchangers. Heat exchangers can only work by being supplied heat from nuclear reactors (including the neighbor bonus), while boilers support a wide range of burner fuels, although most often they use coal or solid fuel.

Given these machines, the following power plant types emerge:

• Boiler power plants (many types depending on the fuels used)
• Solar power plants (solar panels for daytime supply and accumulators for nighttime supply)
• Nuclear power plants (efficiency depends on nuclear reactor counts and arrangements, which determine the neighbor bonus)

Within these categories I would like to focus on 6 power plant subtypes:

• Coal power plant - Mined coal is fed directly to boilers.
• Coal liquification power plant (via solid fuel) - Mined coal undergoes coal liquification and the heavy oil produced is cracked. The light oil and petroleum gas is converted into solid fuel before being sent to the boiler. This process has been found to [double] the energy output from the coal.
• Oil power plant (via solid fuel) - Advanced oil processing is used and the heavy oil produced is cracked. The light oil and petroleum gas is converted into solid fuel before being sent to the boiler.
• Solar power plant - Solar panels and accumulators are placed at an appropriate [ratio] such that solar panels provide the daytime supply and accumulators the nighttime supply.
• Starter nuclear power plant - There is a single nuclear reactor, being supplied by two centrifuges that run uranium processing. There is no Kovarex enrichment used.
• Large nuclear power plant - Several reactors are used side-by-side to ensure a high neighbor bonus and Kovarex enrichment is used.

Each power plant listed has its own strengths and weaknesses. The comparison is in terms of the following factors:

• Technology level to unlock it (1 = automation science, 2 = logistic science, 3 = chemical science, 4 = production science)
• Setup costs in terms of materials (Namely copper, iron, steel, stone, coal, and petroleum gas)
• Infrastructure dependence (i.e. whether you need miners and trains or belts to keep it running)
• Running costs in terms of fuels and materials
• Space usage
• Pollution generation
• Design complexity (in terms of how many things to look out for)

Quick Summary Table

Setup Costs Summary Table

Power Plant	Coal (Burner)	Liq. Coal (Burner)	Oil (Burner)	Solar	Starter Nuclear	Large Nuclear (at scale)
Tech Level	0	4	3	2	3	4
Setup Costs	Very Low	Low	Low	Very High	Medium	Medium-Low
Infrastructure Dep.	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Running Costs	High	Medium	Medium	None	Low	Very Low
Space Usage	Lowest	Low	Low	High	Medium	Medium-Low
Pollution	High	High	High	None	Low	Very Low
Complexity	Low	Medium	Medium	Low	Medium	Medium-High

Running Costs and Pollution Summary Table

Power Plant	Coal (Burner)	Liq. Coal (Burner)	Oil (Burner)	Solar	Starter Nuclear	Large Nuclear (1/20 scale) [I]
Avg. power (MW) [II]	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Copper	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Iron	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Steel	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Stone	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Coal	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Petr. Gas	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Infrastructure [III]	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Space (chunks) [IV]	1	2	3	4	5	6*

Crunching the Numbers to Obtain the Tables

(notes notes notes, eg. 40MW reference point)

40MW Coal Power Plant

(blueprint here)

40MW Liquified Coal Power Plant

(blueprint here)

40MW Oil Power Plant

(blueprint here)

Power Plant	Coal (Burner)	Liq. Coal (Burner)	Oil (Burner)	Solar	Starter Nuclear	Large Nuclear (1/20 scale) [I]
Avg. power (MW) [II]	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Coal	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Uranium ore	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Iron plate	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Sulfur	1	2	3	4	5	6*
Pollution	1	2	3	4	5	6*