Anno in-depth: Energy

Everything there is to know about energy production. The following buildings will be discussed:

Eco faction:
- Wind park
- Thermal power station
- Offshore wind park
- Solar tower generator

Tycoon faction:
- Coal power station
- Nuclear power plant

Tech faction:
- Marine current power station
- Hydroelectric power plant
- Geothermal power plant (Deep Ocean DLC is required)
- Energy transmitter (Deep Ocean DLC is required)

Besides these induvidual sheets, I have also created some comparison tables to compare the different options considering the production of energy.

Wind park

Name	Wind park
Faction	Eco
Building costs	120 credits 1 ton building modules 1 ton tools
Maintenance costs	-25 balance
Energy production	15
Hitpoints	1000
Size	3 x 3 tiles
Influence radius	21 tiles
Unlock	1 Eco worker
Notes	First Eco power plant available, low building/maintenance costs and low energy production, commonly used in the beginning of a game. Just like all other Eco energy production buildings, the Wind park does not affect your ecobalance. Upgrades for a smaller influence radius, lower maintenance costs or more energy production can be researched in your Academy. [/tr][/table]

Thermal power station

Name	Thermal power station
Faction	Eco
Building costs	300 credits 6 ton building modules 6 ton tools 8 ton wood
Maintenance costs	-65 balance
Energy production	70*
Hitpoints	1000
Size	4 x 6 tiles
Influence radius	10 tiles*
Unlock	750 Eco employees
Notes	(*)The energy output is influenced by the number of inhabitants who live within the influence radius of the Thermal power station: the more inhabitants within the influence radius, the higher the energy production. Just like all other Eco energy production buildings, the Thermal power station does not affect your ecobalance. Upgrades for lower maintenance costs or more energy production can be researched in your Academy. [/tr][/table]

Offshore wind park

Name	Offshore wind park
Faction	Eco
Building costs	300 credits 7 ton building modules 4 ton tools 4 ton glass
Maintenance costs	-50 balance
Energy production	30
Hitpoints	1000
Size	3 x 4 tiles
Influence radius	10 tiles
Unlock	950 Eco engineers
Notes	The Offshore wind park can only be built on water. Therefore, you will need either a Port authority building or a Warehouse to create the required building area. Just like all other Eco energy production buildings, the Offshore wind park does not affect your ecobalance. Upgrades for a smaller influence radius, lower maintenance costs or more energy production can be researched in your Academy. [/tr][/table]

Solar tower generator

Name	Solar tower generator
Faction	Eco
Building costs	2000 credits 15 ton building modules 20 ton tools 30 ton wood 30 ton glass
Maintenance costs	-120 balance
Energy production	120
Hitpoints	5000
Size	5 x 5 tiles*
Influence radius	N/A
Unlock	600 Eco executives
Notes	(*)Cultivates four fields with solar mirrors which are 48 square-tiles each. Just like all other Eco energy production buildings, the Solar tower generator does not affect your ecobalance. Upgrades for a smaller influence radius, lower maintenance costs or more energy production can be researched in your Academy. [/tr][/table]

Coal power station

Name	Coal power station
Faction	Tycoon
Building costs	350 credits 1 ton building modules 4 ton tools
Maintenance costs	-10 balance -15 ecobalance
Energy production	60
Hitpoints	1000
Size	4 x 4 tiles
Influence radius	N/A
Unlock	1 Tycoon worker
Notes	First Tycoon energy production building, cheap to build, but does affect your ecobalance quite badly. The Coal power station requires coal to keep running. You will either need 1 Rotary excavator running at 100% or 1 Coal mine running at 50%. Upgrades for a lower ecobalance influence, lower maintenance costs or more energy production can be researched in your Academy. [/tr][/table]

Nuclear power plant

Name	Nuclear power plant
Faction	Tycoon
Building costs	3000 credits 10 ton building modules 24 ton tools 30 ton concrete 36 ton steel
Maintenance costs	-100 balance -10 ecobalance
Energy production	500
Hitpoints	4000
Size	8 x 8 tiles
Influence radius	N/A
Unlock	250 Tycoon engineers
Notes	Keep in mind that accidents may occur when operating a Nuclear power plant: If there is an accident and your Nuclear power plant explodes, you are pretty screwed. The Nuclear power plant requires fuel rods, which are made out of uranium. A closed circuit can be made using 1 Nuclear power plant : 1 Fuel element factory : 1 Uranium mine or by using 2 Nuclear power plants : 2 Fuel element factories : 1 Uranium metal converter. Upgrades for a smaller change of accidents, lower maintenance costs or more energy production can be researched in your Academy. [/tr][/table]

Marine current power plant

Name	Marine current power plant
Faction	Tech
Building costs	1000 credits 12 ton building modules 5 ton tools
Maintenance costs	-40 balance
Energy production	25
Hitpoints	1000
Size	3 x 4 tiles
Influence radius	N/A
Unlock	By buying the Tech building rights
Notes	The Marine current power plant can only be built on underwater plateaus. The only upgrade available for the Marine current power plant can only be found or bought from a NPC. This island-wide upgrade makes Marine current power plants produce 15% more energy. [/tr][/table]

Hydroelectric power plant

Name	Hydroelectric power plant
Faction	Tech
Building costs	8500 credits 150 licences 20 carbon 25 ton microchips 5 Generators*, which require: 10000 credits 100 ton building modules 75 ton tools 3 Maintenance units*, which require: 9000 credits 30 ton weapons 30 ton kerosine 1 Alwinic anion catalyst**
Maintenance costs	-140 balance -10 ecobalance
Energy production	500
Hitpoints	3500
Size	1 Dam slot
Influence radius	N/A
Unlock	1 Researcher
Notes	(*)The Generators and Maintenance units can be researched in your Laboratory. (**)The Alwinic anion catalyst can either be found through research or can be bought from Trenchcoat for 900 licences. The Hydroelectric power plant blueprints must be researched in your Academy. Upgrades for a lower negative effect on your ecobalance or more energy production can be researched in your Academy. [/tr][/table]

Geothermic power plant

Name	Geothermic power plant
Faction	Tech
Building costs	9000 credits 60 ton building modules 40 ton tools 30 ton carbon
Maintenance costs	-140 balance
Energy production	750
Hitpoints	3500
Size	1 Geothermal slot
Influence radius	N/A
Unlock	1200 Researchers
Notes	Must be built on an underwater plateau that is located near a geothermal vent. Due to the large energy production, the Geometric power plant can also be used to provide other island with power (Energy transmitters are required). Using the Geometric power plant may cause tsunamies. Upgrades for a reduced change of accidents, less maintenance costs or more energy production can be researched in your Academy. [/tr][/table]

Energy transmitter

Name	Energy transmitter
Faction	Tech
Building costs	15000 credits 60 ton building modules 40 ton tools 25 ton carbon [/tr] Maintenance costs -175 balance -30 ecobalance Energy production N/A Hitpoints 3500 Size 5 x 6 tiles Influence radius N/A Unlock 1 Genius Notes The Energy transmitter does not produce any energy: it can only transport energy from one island to another when the Energy transmitter is built on both island. The Energy transmitter can both be built on an island as well as an underwater plateau. Upgrades for less maintenance costs or less negative effect on your ecobalance can be researched in your Academy. [/tr][/table]

Comparison table

Values in this table provide an easy reference point for comparison between different power generation types.

Faction	Name	Energy production	Maintenance costs	Ecobalance costs	Maintenance / power	Ecobalance / power
Eco	Wind park	15	-25	0	1.667 / unit	0
Eco	Thermal power station	70*	-65	0	0.928 / unit	0
Eco	Offshore wind park	30	-50	0	1.667 / unit	0
Eco	Solar tower generator	120	-120	0	1.000 / unit	0
Tycoon	Coal power station	60	-10	-15	0.167 / unit	-0.250 / unit
Tycoon	Nuclear reactor	500	-100	-10	0.200 / unit	-0.020 / unit
Tech	Marine current power station	25	-40	0	1.600 / unit	0
Tech	Hydroelectric power plant	500	-140	-10	0.280 / unit	-0.020 / unit
Tech	Geothermic power plant	750	-200	0	0.267 / unit	0

(*)Energy output depends on the number of inhabitants within the influence area.

Comparison table including upstream production chains

Since some power production buildings need resources in order to work, I have also made a comparison table with these needed resources included in the total costs and output. All layouts are designed as a closed circuit when all buildings are running at 100%.

Faction	Buildings	Energy production	Maintenance costs	Ecobalance costs	Maintenance / power	Ecobalance / power
Tycoon	1 Coal power station 1 Rotary excavator	60	-20	-20	0.333 / unit	-0.333 / unit
Tycoon	2 Coal power stations 1 Coal mine	120	-35	-32	0.292 / unit	-0.267 / unit
Tycoon	1 Nuclear reactor 1 Fuel element factory 1 Uranium mine	500 (492)*	-210	-22	0.420 / unit	-0.044 / unit
Tycoon	2 Nuclear reactors 2 Fuel element factories 1 Metal converter	1000 (967)*	-520	-32	0.538 / unit	-0.033 / unit

(*)Effective output (= total output generated - energy usage of the included buildings).

Other useful guides

Some may know that I made a bunch of other guides for Anno 2070 as well. Check them out!

Anno in-depth series:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=161079695
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=136264455
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=155377671
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=481961978

Building layouts:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=126330047
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=122329921
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=135700037
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=122995399
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=133380073
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=130203918

[A Piece of Pizza]

I love reducing the influence area of my wind parks to 0% so i can spam them for cheap up to lategame.

[Abster]

Superb guide!

[二猫]

yep, this is a great way. but the only disadvantage is that we need a Genius. The requirement of Tech is the highest among all three. In this sense, tycoon the best, the requirement is so low.

[Glyphis]

A control module can be researched in a laboratory. Besides that, using a specialized island like yours is a great way to provide energy for your islands. I use that technique as well.

[二猫]

normally I select 1 small island as the "nuclear island", building 5 or more nuclear plants, then transmit to some big cities. This is super cheap.

[二猫]

Thank you Thomas! how? buy a control module? or natrually -100%?

[Glyphis]

Upgrades can reduce the risk of tsunamies with up to 100%. You might want to try those out ErMao.

[二猫]

I suggest Geothermic power plant not build with Oil Rig, otherwise Sunami will screw a lot.

[Glyphis]

ah ok tnx :P i'll patch that one right now

[cw]

It should be "Comparison Tables", if that's the word you're looking for. "Comparising" isn't a word. Great guide! Just wanted to help you out :p