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
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
- Coal liquification power plant (via solid fuel)
- Oil power plant (via solid fuel)
- Solar power plant (using accumulators to cover the nighttime supply)
- Starter nuclear power plant (no neighbor bonus or Kovarex enrichment)
- Large nuclear power plant (high neighbor bonus and Kovarex enrichment)
Each power production technology in Factorio has its own strengths and weaknesses. They can be compared in terms of the following:
- Setup costs in terms of materials
- Infrastructure dependence
- Space usage
- Running costs in terms of fuels and materials
- Pollution generation
- Design complexity
Quick Summary Table
| Power Plant | Coal (Burner) | Liq. Coal (Burner) | Oil (Burner) | Solar | Starter Nuclear | Large Nuclear (at scale) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup Costs | Lowest | Low | Low | 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 |