Embarking on automated power generation in Satisfactory is a pivotal moment, a true leap from the endless cycle of biomass foraging. This guide on Coal Power Basics & Initial Setup will equip you with the knowledge to build your first stable, scalable, and self-sufficient coal power plant, freeing you to focus on more complex factory challenges. Forget the axe and leaves; it’s time to harness the earth’s raw power.
At a Glance: Your First Coal Power Plant
- Unlock: Tier 3, after building the Space Elevator.
- Key Resources: Coal (from miners) and Water (from Water Extractors).
- Optimal Ratio: 8 Coal Generators to 3 Water Extractors.
- Output: This setup provides a robust 600 MW of continuous power.
- Resource Needs: 120 Coal/minute and 360 Water/minute.
- Key Challenge: Managing water pipeline throughput (Mk.1 pipes max out at 300 m³/minute).
- Initial Power: You'll need temporary power (e.g., 3 Biomass Burners) to kickstart your coal operation.
- Stability Tip: Dedicate one Coal Generator to power your coal and water resource providers to prevent full factory blackouts.
Why Coal Power? Your First Leap into Automated Production
Before coal, your factory's lifeblood—power—is a constant chore. Biomass Burners, while great for getting started, demand relentless manual feeding. Coal power, however, marks your entry into truly automated energy production. It's the first major step towards building the sprawling, self-sustaining industrial empire of your dreams, providing a reliable and significant power boost that will fuel your entire mid-game progression.
To even begin harnessing this black gold, you'll need to progress your HUB milestones. Coal Generators become available in Tier 3, right after you've constructed the Space Elevator. This critical infrastructure piece requires a few basic components: Rotors, Cables, and Reinforced Iron Plates—items you should be well-acquainted with by this stage.
The Core Ingredients: Coal & Water, Explained
At its heart, a coal power plant is a surprisingly simple system: take coal, mix it with water, burn it, and poof, electricity. But getting those ingredients reliably and efficiently is where the engineering fun begins.
The Powerhouse Ratio: 8 Generators to 3 Water Extractors
This isn't just a suggestion; it's the golden ratio for efficiency and resource management for your first coal plant. Here's why:
- One Coal Generator: Consumes 15 coal/minute and 45 water/minute, generating 75 MW.
- One Water Extractor: Supplies 120 m³/minute of water.
Now, let's do the math for the optimal setup: - 8 Coal Generators:
- Coal Consumption: 8 generators * 15 coal/minute = 120 coal/minute
- Water Consumption: 8 generators * 45 water/minute = 360 water/minute
- Power Output: 8 generators * 75 MW = 600 MW
- Water Extractors Needed for 360 water/minute:
- 360 water/minute / 120 water/minute per extractor = 3 Water Extractors
So, for a clean, perfectly balanced setup, you'll aim for 8 Coal Generators fed by 3 Water Extractors, providing a substantial 600 MW of power. This setup forms the backbone of your initial coal power grid, offering a significant upgrade over biomass. You can delve deeper into the mechanics of specific power-producing buildings with our dedicated Satisfactory coal generator guide.
Fueling the Fire: Coal Supply Strategies
Getting 120 coal/minute to your 8 generators requires a robust mining and transportation setup.
Mining the Coal
Your choice of miner and node type will dictate your initial strategy:
- Mk.1 Miner on a Pure Coal Node: This is the easiest and most straightforward option. A Mk.1 Miner on a Pure node natively extracts 120 coal/minute, precisely what your 8 generators need.
- Mk.1 Miner on a Normal Coal Node: A Normal node with a Mk.1 Miner only yields 60 coal/minute. To reach the required 120 coal/minute, you'll need to overclock your miner to 200%. This requires "Overclock Production" from the MAM Power Slugs branch and consumes more power, but it's a viable option if Pure nodes are scarce or far away.
Conveying the Coal
Once mined, the coal needs to reach your generators.
- Mk.2 Conveyor Belt: This belt type has a throughput capacity of 120 items/minute, making it perfect for transporting the exact amount of coal needed for your 8 generators. Ensure your entire coal line uses Mk.2 belts to avoid bottlenecks.
- Manifold Systems: For distributing coal to multiple generators, a manifold system is generally preferred for its simplicity. A single conveyor belt runs past all 8 generators, with splitters diverting coal to each.
- Pre-loading: To speed up the initial saturation of the manifold, consider temporarily feeding extra coal into the system or manually placing a stack of coal into each generator's input slot. This primes the system, allowing the manifold to balance faster.
- Load-balancing: While more complex to set up, true load-balancing (using multiple splitters and mergers to ensure equal distribution from the start) ensures all generators receive coal simultaneously. For your first coal plant, a simple manifold with pre-loading is usually sufficient.
Hydrating Your Generators: Water Management
Water is the other critical resource, and it comes with its own set of challenges, primarily related to pipeline throughput.
Extracting the Water
- Water Extractors: As established, you'll need three Water Extractors, each pumping 120 m³/minute, for a total of 360 m³/minute. These must be placed directly on a body of water.
The Mk.1 Pipeline Throughput Challenge
This is where many new players encounter their first hiccup:
- Mk.1 Pipeline Limit: A standard Mk.1 Pipeline, which you'll have unlocked at this stage, has a maximum throughput of 300 m³/minute.
- The Problem: Your 3 Water Extractors produce 360 m³/minute. If you try to feed all this water into a single pipe segment, it will bottleneck, and your generators won't receive enough water.
- The Solution: Distribute the Flow: You cannot simply connect all three Water Extractors to one long pipe line. Instead, you must distribute the 360 m³/minute across multiple pipe segments.
- Manifold Approach for Water: A common strategy is to run a pipe manifold past your generators and connect the three Water Extractors at different points along this manifold. For example, two extractors might feed into one end of the manifold, and the third into the middle, or you could create two smaller pipe networks that merge or feed different sections of your 8 generators. The key is that no single pipe segment should carry more than 300 m³/minute.
- Water Flow Mechanics: Unlike conveyor belts, water flow in pipes is not direction-limited. It will always move towards the lowest point in a pipe network, seeking out open connections or points of consumption. This means you don't need to worry about "pushing" water in a specific direction, but rather ensuring the total volume flowing through any single segment stays under the limit.
Your Step-by-Step Blueprint for Coal Power
Setting up your first coal power plant can feel daunting, but breaking it down into manageable steps makes it straightforward.
1. Resource Reconnaissance: Find Your Spots
Before you build anything, scout the landscape. You need two critical resources in relatively close proximity:
- A Coal Node: Locate a Pure or Normal coal node.
- A Body of Water: A lake, river, or ocean big enough to place multiple Water Extractors.
- Pro-tip: Building near the coast often provides both. The Northern Forest, Grass Fields, and Rocky Desert starting areas all have suitable locations.
2. Laying the Groundwork: Foundations Over Water
Water Extractors must be placed on water. While you can place them directly, it's often cleaner and easier to manage pipework by building a foundation platform over the water where your extractors will sit. This creates a stable surface for your pipes and power connections.
3. Water Extraction First: Get the Hydration Flowing
Place your three Water Extractors on the water (or on your foundation over the water). Orient them so their pipe outputs are easily accessible for connecting to your generators.
4. Temporary Power Bridge: Kickstarting the System
This is a crucial step! Your Coal Miners and Water Extractors need power to operate, but your Coal Generators aren't online yet.
- The Problem: Your initial infrastructure (3 Water Extractors at 20 MW each, and 1 Mk.1 Miner at ~12.5 MW (assuming 200% OC on Normal Node) or 5 MW (on Pure Node)) will require around 72.5 MW to run.
- The Solution: Set up a few temporary Biomass Burners (typically 3 will suffice, as each provides 30 MW) near your coal setup. Connect these to your Water Extractors and Coal Miner using power poles. This "jumps start" your coal production.
5. Generator Placement & Layout: Arranging Your Powerhouses
Now, place your 8 Coal Generators. Think about:
- Accessibility: Leave room for conveyor belts (coal) and pipes (water) to easily connect to their respective inputs on the generators.
- Power Poles: Plan for power pole placement to easily connect all generators to your new grid.
- Manifold vs. Direct: For simplicity, a manifold setup (a straight line of generators with inputs branching off a main line) is often best for pipes and conveyors.
6. Connecting the Veins & Arteries: Pipes and Conveyors
This is where your plant comes alive:
- Water Pipes: Connect your Water Extractors to your Coal Generators. Remember the 300 m³/minute pipe throughput limit. Distribute the 360 m³/minute from your 3 extractors across multiple pipe segments to avoid bottlenecks. A common pattern is to connect the three extractors to a main manifold pipe running behind the 8 generators, ensuring no single segment exceeds 300 m³/minute.
- Coal Conveyors: Connect your Coal Miner to your Coal Generators using Mk.2 conveyor belts. Use splitters to create a manifold that feeds coal to each generator. As mentioned, pre-loading generators with a stack of coal can help saturate the manifold quickly.
7. Energizing the Grid: Power Connections
- Generator Outputs: Each Coal Generator has a power connector at its rear. Connect these to a series of power poles, linking all 8 generators together.
- Main Grid Tie-in: Once all generators are connected internally, run a power line from this new coal power grid to your main factory grid (e.g., to an existing Power Pole or Power Storage unit).
8. Achieving Self-Sufficiency: Disconnecting Temporary Power
With your Coal Generators running stably and producing power:
- Disconnect Temporary Power: Once your coal grid is producing its full 600 MW, disconnect the temporary Biomass Burners. They've served their purpose!
- Connect Resource Providers: Now, connect your Coal Miner and Water Extractors to your new coal power grid. This allows your entire coal power system to be self-sustaining. This is the moment of triumph!
Beyond the Basics: Advanced Considerations for Reliability
Building your first coal plant is one thing; ensuring it never goes down is another. Here are two critical concepts for a robust power setup.
The "Never-Fail" Power Grid
One of the most disheartening experiences in Satisfactory is a factory-wide power outage (a "trip") that shuts down everything, including the machines that produce the fuel for your power. This creates a death spiral.
- The Strategy: To prevent this, dedicate a separate, isolated power grid for the machines that supply your coal generators: the Coal Miner and the Water Extractors.
- How it Works: Use one Coal Generator (which produces 75 MW) from your main plant to exclusively power your 3 Water Extractors (3 * 20 MW = 60 MW) and 1 Coal Miner (approx. 12.5 MW). This requires about 72.5 MW. Since one generator provides 75 MW, it's a perfect fit.
- Implementation: Build an isolated power line directly from one of your 8 Coal Generators to power poles that only connect to your Water Extractors and Coal Miner. Ensure this dedicated line is completely separate from your main factory power grid.
- The Benefit: If your main factory grid ever trips due to exceeding capacity, this dedicated power loop will remain operational, ensuring your coal generators continue to receive coal and water. When you fix the capacity issue (e.g., by building more generators or disconnecting high-draw machines), your main coal plant can immediately come back online without manual intervention.
Conquering Elevation: Headlift and Pumps
Water doesn't magically flow uphill indefinitely. This concept, called "headlift," is crucial for planning your water pipe networks.
- Water Extractor Headlift: Each Water Extractor can lift water a maximum of 10 meters vertically from its pipe output. If your generators are more than 10 meters higher than your extractors, the water simply won't reach them.
- Pipeline Pumps: To transport water higher, you'll need Pipeline Pumps:
- Mk.1 Pipeline Pump: Adds 20 meters of headlift.
- Mk.2 Pipeline Pump: Adds 50 meters of headlift.
- Placement: Place a Pipeline Pump before your pipe reaches the 10m headlift limit. Pumps require power, so connect them to your grid. You can daisy-chain multiple pumps for extreme vertical lifts, placing them strategically along the pipe segment.
- Visualization: When building pipes, observe the arrows indicating flow. If the arrows are red or absent, it often indicates insufficient headlift.
Common Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them
Even with a solid plan, it's easy to stumble. Here are the most common issues and how to sidestep them:
- Insufficient Water Throughput (The 300 m³/minute Trap): This is the number one issue. Always remember a Mk.1 pipe can only carry 300 m³/minute. If your 3 Water Extractors (360 m³/minute total) are all trying to feed one pipe, you'll have 60 m³/minute missing, leading to generators shutting down. Solution: Distribute water flow across multiple pipe segments or use a manifold system where no single segment exceeds the limit.
- Running Out of Temporary Power: Forgetting to connect enough temporary Biomass Burners, or letting them run out of fuel, means your initial setup stalls. Solution: Always ensure you have sufficient temporary power (at least 3 Biomass Burners with fuel) to power your miners and extractors until the coal plant is fully operational.
- Ignoring Headlift: Trying to pump water uphill too far without pumps. Solution: Plan your pipe routes carefully, using foundations to maintain consistent elevations or placing Pipeline Pumps strategically before the 10m headlift limit is reached.
- Not Connecting Resource Providers to the New Grid: After getting the coal plant running, forgetting to disconnect temporary power and connect the miner and extractors to the new stable grid means they're still reliant on manual fuel or an inefficient old system. Solution: Make "connect resource producers to coal grid" a final checklist item.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How many Coal Generators can one Water Extractor support?
Theoretically, one Water Extractor (120 m³/minute) can support 120 / 45 = 2.66 Coal Generators. This non-whole number is precisely why the 8 generators to 3 extractors ratio is optimal (8 generators * 45 m³/minute = 360 m³/minute needed, which 3 extractors * 120 m³/minute = 360 m³/minute provides perfectly).
What if my coal node isn't Pure? Can I still use it?
Yes, absolutely! If you only have access to a Normal coal node (60 coal/minute), you can overclock your Mk.1 Miner to 200% to produce 120 coal/minute. This requires "Overclock Production" from the MAM Power Slugs research. Alternatively, if you have multiple Normal nodes nearby, you could use two Mk.1 Miners (2 * 60 = 120 coal/minute) to achieve the same output.
Do I need a separate power grid for all my machines?
No, you only need a separate power grid for the machines that directly supply resources to your coal generators (the Coal Miner and Water Extractors). This ensures your power generation itself remains online even if your main factory consumes too much power and causes a trip. All other factory machines can be on your main grid.
Can pipes flow uphill?
Yes, pipes can flow uphill, but only up to a certain vertical distance, known as headlift. A Water Extractor provides 10 meters of headlift. If you need to go higher, you must install powered Pipeline Pumps along the pipe path.
Your Next Steps to Powering a Mega-Factory
With your first 600 MW coal power plant humming reliably, you've unlocked a new era for your factory. This foundational power grid is often just the beginning. As your production expands, you'll soon find yourself needing more power, leading to:
- Replicating the Design: Building more 8-generator / 3-extractor modules near other coal and water sources.
- Upgrading Miners and Belts: Utilizing Mk.2 or Mk.3 Miners and faster conveyor belts on higher-purity nodes to feed even larger banks of generators.
- Exploring Fuel Generators: Eventually transitioning to packaged fuel or turbofuel for even more dense power generation.
For now, take a moment to appreciate the steady flow of automated power. You've conquered a major hurdle and laid the groundwork for future expansion. Go forth, pioneer, and build bigger!