Building a basic setup

Requirements

To build a basic modular power setup, first and foremost you have to unlock the following Milestones:

  • Carbon Refining (Tier 3)

  • Modular Power Generation (Tier 3)

For a basic setup using coal, the following items are required:

  • 93x Reinforced Iron Plate

  • 60x Iron Rod

  • 29x Modular Frame

  • 60x Copper Sheet

  • 4x Carbon Mesh

  • 50x Wire

  • 50x Cable

  • 10x Rotor

Note: This does not include building cost for any Water Pumps, Miners, pipes, belts and other stuff. Only items required for buildings of Refined Power are listed.

Overview

basicSetup

This image shows a very basic setup for a Modular Power Plant.

Buildings / Stations

  1. Water Input

  2. Item Input

  3. Heater

  4. Boiler

  5. Turbine

  6. Generator

  7. Co2 Chimney

  8. Steam Cooling Tower

Pipes

  • Blue Pipe: Water

  • Red Pipe: High Pressure Steam

  • Gray Pipe: Low Pressure Steam

  • Black Pipe: Co2

Detailed description

1. Water Input

This is the normal water input, like required by the normal Coal Power Plants.

2. Item Input

The source of fuel you want to convert to power.

3. Heater

The Heater which converts the fuel to heat. It has to be placed on a Boiler Platform.
Make sure that your Heater can burn the fuel you feed it. To find the correct heater, check Heaters.

4. Boiler

The Boiler uses the heat generated by the Heater to convert Water into High Pressure Steam. It has to be placed on top of a Heater.
Further information is available at Boilers.

5. Turbine

The Turbine starts rotating once the Boiler produces Steam. Turbines have to be placed on a Converter Platform.
It has to get a constant supply of Steam to keep spinning at the maximum RPM. They convert the High Pressure Steam into Low Pressure Steam
Check Turbines for available Turbines and required amount of Steam.

6. Generator

The Generator has to be placed on the same Converter Platform as the Turbine. It is set in motion by the Turbine and produces electricity.
The required RPM and production capacity can be found at Generators.
Note: The connection for the power line is on the Converter Platform, not the generator itself.

7. Co2 Chimney

Heaters produce Co2. It has to be vented, so they don’t stop producing heat. The Co2 can be vented by the Co2 Chimney.
The Co2 Chimney has to be placed on a Cooling Platform.

8. Steam Cooling Tower

The Low Pressure Steam from Turbines also needs to be dealt with. The Steam Cooling Tower simply vents it into the air.
It has to be placed on a Cooling Platform too. Check Chimneys for more about the Cooling Tower and the Co2 Chimney.

Final Notes

Now for some final advices.

While it might seem complicated at first glance, keep the following in mind:

  • With Mk. 1 buildings, the ratio of Heater/Boiler : Generator is 1 : 1.

  • 1 Co2 Chimney is enough for up to 5 Heaters (depending on the fuel used, check Heaters for Co2 production rates)

  • 1 Steam Cooling Tower is enough for 5 Mk. 1 Turbines or 2.5 Mk. 2 Turbines

  • The Modular Power Plant generates at least double the Power normal Coal Power Plants would

  • With Refineries and the Modular Combustion-Milestone (Tier 6) it is possible to convert the Low Pressure Steam back to Water and Co2 to Carbon Dust, which can be used to produce Steel Ingots. So you can reuse some of the resources you put into it!