How much power is enough power?

[Faustus]

For anything other than a mega-factory, how much power do you really need?

I'm just remodelling my base before Update 4 comes to EA and looking at future power needs - currently I've a capacity of ~40,000 MW but only using ~10K of that so a reasonable net amount at present.

[sansee]

Depends on you really, but this person, Amalie, played several thousands of hours and managed to 100% everything, which translates to > 600.000MW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfnSlsqyhgA

And IamKibits with 400.000MW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4FmkXnW7h8

[Faustus]

Originally posted by sansee:

Depends on you really, but this person, Amalie, played several thousands of hours and managed to 100% everything, which translates to > 600.000MW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfnSlsqyhgA

And IamKibits with 400.000MW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4FmkXnW7h8

Yes, I've seen the works of those two creators before but as per my OP, I'm not asking about a maxed out mega-base as per Amalie's "100% MAXED OUT FACTORY! - Satisfactory Mega Base Tour".
I.e. for those not going to this level, what have they found to be a reasonable power grid?

[Bobucles]

A reasonable power grid provides enough power to keep your base online. That's all there is to it. Generally, around a dozen coal gens will get you comfortably through coal tier, and a small pile of fuel generators will get you through oil tier. At that point nuclear blows it all out of the water.

[JustSmile]

Originally posted by Faustus:

Yes, I'm seen the works of those two creators before but as per my OP, I'm not asking about a maxed out mega-base as per Amalie's "100% MAXED OUT FACTORY! - Satisfactory Mega Base Tour".
I.e. for those not going to this level, what have they found to be a reasonable power grid?

That's a weird question. A reasonable power grid is a power grid that supplies as much power as you need. There's not a single catch-all answer. I used to be fine with 1k, then I was fine with 3k, now I am fine with 14k.

[Drakos Kai]

More power obviously

[sansee]

Originally posted by Faustus:

I.e. for those not going to this level, what have they found to be a reasonable power grid?

Those two was an example of the extreme in this game. And like we have answered - it really depends on you, and how much you've built and need, and then have above that again.

If you'd asked about how many bobble-gums a person could eat then the answer would be as much as a person could take (or to the pain in the stomach becomes to much). In short, it's all relative and not an exact answer. As you keep building with time so does the requirement, and then you build even more.

Basically, you're asking the wrong question...

[SocialModo]

The right answer is 42.

[OmegaMaelstrom]

Originally posted by SocialModo:

The right answer is 42.

right? Can't believe people don't know that. I think the OP question was meant for highdeas(dot)com.

[Capt. W. Schwartz]

1.21^n3

[SirTallest]

Originally posted by Faustus:

For anything other than a mega-factory, how much power do you really need?

I'm just remodelling my base before Update 4 comes to EA and looking at future power needs - currently I've a capacity of ~40,000 MW but only using ~10K of that so a reasonable net amount at present.

Probably could've told you you'd get responses like that in here... That said, Kibitz needs a power plant like that for the creations he builds...

40GW is enough to get through endgame if you don't go completely nuts like in some youtube personalities' games. Had ~34GW with several megafactories going into update 4 (been playing experimental) & it was enough to get through the post T8 space elevator part needs. Used about 10-12 before the update. Using in the 20's now, except when I was charging over 700 batteries in multiple locations. Then I had the grid maxed for awhile whenever I started building a new location before the previous one was done charging. Wanted enough backup power in the grid to run everything a few hours in case something went terribly wrong. Game does make you paranoid about power...

Also, as a backup before update 4, I built a massive farm of storage tanks (one big tank per turbofuel generator) to stockpile turbofuel for my main power plant, just in case something went wrong there. Turned out to not need it, but is another way to build a big safety net for power until you get battery farms online after the update. Gave me a nice buffer to fine tune things without losing a significant portion of my power plant when everything was suddenly forced to run at max power.

Built everything I could reasonably think of to prepare. Didn't need a lot of it, but better to have too much than not enough...

[Shahadem]

About 4,000 is really all you need right now.

That's what my current playthrough is using and that's enough to have several complete lines of every item.

[nfgman]

Upgrade 4 hasn't changed power demand all that much, with a couple exceptions. The particle accelerator uses a lot of power but that's only used for plutonium and nuclear pasta for now. Also, the large demands for the space elevator which can be managed either slowly or sequentially. For example, recently finished a 6 ACU/min factory that chews up about 3000 MW by itself. I will probably continue running automated wiring into the sink for points but ACU production is only temporary, same as magnetic field generators. Can't say the same for modular motors that will probably continue running into the sink.

At 2 million points per min, I use about 15,000 MW along with standby. Both numbers will likely double, possibly triple, but that's just normal growth. Nice new thing is the diluted heavy residue into fuel, so it's easy to make byproduct into power. Same with plutonium. What they take away, they give back more.