Wind Turbine

Wind Turbines are stand-alone power generators that produce electricity directly from the wind, no fuel, other inputs, or other buildings required. They come in three tiers (Mk1, Mk2, Mk3) that unlock as you progress and produce progressively more power.

Two things determine how much power a wind turbine makes: how high it is built and, optionally, the current wind speed. They also dislike crowding, build them too close together and they shut each other down.

In-game description (Mk1)
"The power generation ranges between 10MW and 30MW, contingent upon the turbine’s height. If multiple turbines are within its vicinity, the output diminishes. […] Furthermore, it can be connected in a sequence of up to two power lines, allowing for daisy chaining."

Wind Turbine Mechanics

Power production is dependent on wind speed and efficiency, which is depending on the height at which the turbine is placed. Maximum efficiency will be reached at around 300 m and above.

The wind turbines have an area effect. Any other wind turbine within this area will drop the power output to 0 MW.
Press R to visualize the area. It will turn red if there is another turbine within it.
The area is only relevant for turbines of the same type, e.g. a Mk. 1 and a Mk. 2 wind turbine can be placed next to each other.

Turbines can be daisy-chained, each allows for two power lines.

If you don’t like the fluctuation of the power output, you can disable that in the Mod Savegame Settings menu. Important: The turbines will then be limited to half of the maximum output.

Building Information

	Mk. 1	Mk. 2	Mk. 3
Building Cost	20x Iron Plate 30x Iron Rod	20x Concrete 20x Steel Pipe 10x Encased Industrial Beam 5x Motor	50x Fabric 100x Cable 40x Alclad Aluminum Sheets 50x Heavy Modular Frames
Default Maximum Power Output	30 MW	100 MW	150 MW
Area Radius	3 foundations*	6.5 foundations	9.5 foundations

Mk. 1

Mk. 2

Mk. 3

Building Cost

20x Iron Plate
30x Iron Rod

20x Concrete
20x Steel Pipe
10x Encased Industrial Beam
5x Motor

50x Fabric
100x Cable
40x Alclad Aluminum Sheets
50x Heavy Modular Frames

Default Maximum Power Output

30 MW

100 MW

150 MW

Area Radius

3 foundations*

6.5 foundations

9.5 foundations

Wind speed and fluctuation Settings

These settings are found in the Mod Savegame Settings menu

Each tier has a game setting "Use power depends on wind (no constant power output)":

Off: the turbine produces a constant output based on its height only.
On: the turbine’s height output is multiplied by a wind-speed factor that changes over time, so power rises and falls with the wind.

The wind itself is driven by a world-wide wind subsystem whose behaviour is controlled by these configurable settings (defaults shown):

Setting	Default	Meaning
Min wind speed	0.2	Lower bound of the fluctuating wind-speed multiplier.
Max wind speed	1.0	Upper bound of the fluctuating wind-speed multiplier.
Wind speed fluctuations	0.25	How strongly/often the wind speed varies.
Interval for updating the wind speed	60 s	How often a new wind speed is rolled (15–600 s).
Interval for updating the wind direction	120 s	How often wind direction changes (visual; 15–600 s).
Power Multiplier (per tier)	1.0	Flat multiplier applied to the produced power (0.1–10). Note: the building’s on-screen description does not update when this is changed.

Setting

Default

Meaning

Min wind speed

0.2

Lower bound of the fluctuating wind-speed multiplier.

Max wind speed

1.0

Upper bound of the fluctuating wind-speed multiplier.

Wind speed fluctuations

0.25

How strongly/often the wind speed varies.

Interval for updating the wind speed

60 s

How often a new wind speed is rolled (15–600 s).

Interval for updating the wind direction

120 s

How often wind direction changes (visual; 15–600 s).

Power Multiplier (per tier)

1.0

Flat multiplier applied to the produced power (0.1–10). Note: the building’s on-screen description does not update when this is changed.

Because these are player-facing config values, a server/save can tune how swingy wind power is. On defaults, a wind-dependent turbine’s output drifts between roughly 20% and 100% of its height-based value.

Milestones

	Mk. 1	Mk. 2	Mk. 3
Available with	Tier 1: Refined Power Mk1	Tier 5: Refined Power Mk2	Tier 7: Refined Power Mk3
Research Cost	200x Iron Plate 150x Iron Rod	200x Encased Industrial Beam 500x Quickwire 50x Heavy Modular Frame	200x Heat Sink 150x High-Speed Connector 50x Heavy Modular Frame

Mk. 1

Mk. 2

Mk. 3

Available with

Tier 1: Refined Power Mk1

Tier 5: Refined Power Mk2

Tier 7: Refined Power Mk3

Research Cost

200x Iron Plate
150x Iron Rod

200x Encased Industrial Beam
500x Quickwire
50x Heavy Modular Frame

200x Heat Sink
150x High-Speed Connector
50x Heavy Modular Frame

Tips

Placing both turbines in the center of their foundations is slightly too close.
Build high. A wind turbine on flat ground sits near the bottom of its power range. Placing it on tall pillars, a foundation stack, or a mountain top can multiply its output several times over toward the tier maximum.
Spread them out. A turbine stops producing the moment another turbine enters its circle, and when two overlap, both go to 0 MW. Keep each turbine outside its neighbours' circles (roughly 30/56/80 m for Mk1/Mk2/Mk3). Cricles can be viewed by pressing R.
Wind power is steady only if you want it to be. With the wind-dependency setting off, output is constant and easy to plan around. With it on, expect it to rise and fall. Pair it with batteries/storage or a baseload generator.