In Satisfactory, generating energy is crucial. You can use various sources, from biomass to coal, oil, or nuclear power. Initially, it's best to start with biomass because it's the easiest. However, as you progress and build more complex factories, biomass is no longer sufficient.
To unlock coal, you must first construct the Space Elevator and unlock "Coal Power" in Tier 3 of the hub. Each coal generator consumes 15 coal per minute (1 coal every 4 seconds) and 45 cubic meters of water per minute to generate a total of 75 MW of energy.
Coal Generator
Keep in mind that to create a coal plant, you need to have access to water, so by unlocking coal, you will also unlock structures and pipes that will allow you to extract and transport water. In any case, unlocking coal is one of the milestones of the game, and it will allow you to advance exponentially in the creation of factories.
Let's get to the important part: How can we create a coal plant and obtain energy from it? Well, to generate energy, we will need two basic resources: water and coal. We can obtain coal from veins scattered throughout the world, while we can extract water from lakes or rivers and transport it using pipes to the plant.
Resources needed:
To build a simple coal plant, we will need the following elements; 1 pure coal node, 1 Miner Mk.2, 4 water extractor, 8 coal generator. In addition, depending on the location of the coal plant, it will also be necessary to use a Mk.2 conveyor belt, and some copper to create the power lines.
Coal Plant
How to get coal:
Start by building the Mk.2 miner at the pure coal node and powering it with the electrical grid so it can start extracting coal. Next, we look for a lake or water source where we will place 4 water extractors. Keep in mind that it's necessary to plan the location of the power plant so that it's close to the resources it needs, namely water and coal sources, in order to minimize transportation costs and time.
Build a platform and place coal generators:
Next, build a large rectangular area using foundations where you will place the 8 coal generators. You can make two columns with 4 coal generators each, leaving a space in the center for coal and water to pass through.
Split the coal using conveyor splitters:
Conveyor splitters should be placed between opposite coal generators so that the main flow of coal transported by the conveyor belts is split and fed into the 8 coal generators. Additionally, we connect the 4 water extractors using pipelines and pipeline junction crosses to split the water flow among all the generators in the same way. This creates a fully functional coal plant layout that will generate much more energy than the previous plants.
Water Extractor
In any case, it's important to keep in mind the topography and access to resources of the location where the plant will be built. There are many other ways to transport coal, such as through trains or trucks. Keep in mind that this is a very simple design that can be used in the early stages of the game.
Don't forget to use pipeline pumps to move the water if your water source is located below the area where you're building the coal generators. Otherwise, the water won't flow and you won't be able to generate energy.
Your coal plant production will be:
Since there are a total of 8 coal generators, it will consume 120 coal and 360 cubic meters of water per minute to produce a total of 600 MW of energy.
Water Source
If you want to know the amount of coal, water, and energy produced by each coal generator per minute, you can use the following tool:
To simplify your task, in the following table, you can get a relationship between the number of coal generators in your factory and the amount of energy produced, as well as the amount of resources needed to produce it. Simply change any of the cells and the rest of the values will be rearranged to meet the needs of your factory.
COAL GENERATORS
COAL NEEDED (coal/min)
ENERGY PRODUCED (MW)
The simple coal plant layout we discussed earlier is just the beginning. As you progress in the game and unlock more advanced technologies, you can optimize your coal power production even further.
Coal plant layout:
In this layout, there are 12 coal generators arranged in two rows of six. The coal and water are transported using two parallel Mk.4 conveyor belts and two parallel pipelines. The water extractors are powered by a separate power grid, which ensures that the coal plant doesn't consume all the available energy. The layout also includes a fluid buffer to store excess water and prevent shortages.
Benefits of this layout:
This layout generates a total of 900 MW of energy, which is 50% more than the simple layout we discussed earlier. However, it also requires more resources and planning, so it's not recommended for early game stages.
