Build a Base Power Supply That Fits the Location

Choose a source for your site

Start with a Solar Panel for a shallow outpost where sunlight is accessible. Its output is reduced at night and in deep water, so a base that works during one daytime visit may not sustain the same equipment throughout a longer stay. Compare the base display across the conditions you actually use.

A Hydroelectric Turbine belongs inside a natural water current. An artificial current is not a substitute. The turbine also requires a power transmission device; seeing a propeller move does not by itself establish that electricity is reaching your room.

A Thermal Plant converts heat into usable power and also requires transmission. It suits a base with access to a hot area, but that choice adds the travel and survival demands of the site. A Bioreactor instead converts organic fuel into electricity and needs a fuel supply you can replenish.

Connect the generator and add reserves

Build the source where it can work, then extend its connection with Power Transmitters toward the base. Check the receiving base display after placing each part. Do not build a long chain only to discover that the first source was never producing.

Power Storage holds surplus energy for later. Add it once your generation can exceed consumption for part of the day. If the base continuously draws more than it generates, a larger reserve only delays the next outage. The Buddy System update fixed bases incorrectly staying powered after stored energy had run out.

1. Activate a suitable source and inspect its local condition: light, natural current, heat or fuel.
2. Connect the source to the base and confirm the receiving power display responds.
3. Add appliances one at a time, including charging terminals, and compare generation with demand.
4. Use storage for temporary shortages and increase generation for a sustained shortage.

Free power by stopping an idle Scanner Station

A Scanner Station with an active filter draws 10 energy per second in PC build 128456. Open its filter selection and select that same filter again to deselect it. With no active filter, the scanning load is zero; this frees generation for charging terminals and other equipment.

For one active station, allow 10 energy/s before counting the rest of the base. Two active stations need 20 energy/s. With a chosen 20% reserve, those scanner-only budgets become 12 and 24 energy/s. Add every other simultaneous load before deciding how many generators you need.

The power calculator includes an editable active Scanner Station rate of 10 energy/s. Set its count to the number of stations that will be scanning, enter the remaining loads and use the actual output available at your generator locations.

Diagnose an outage without rebuilding everything

Separate three problems: no energy being generated, no connection to the base, and demand exceeding supply. A missing transmitter connection calls for different work from an empty Bioreactor or a low-output nighttime Solar Panel.

If thermal or hydroelectric power changes after a long trip away from the base, check that Buddy System Hotfix 2 is installed. The October 6 update fixes generators losing power or displaying incorrect output when their part of the world unloads and loads again, including incorrect Hydroelectric Turbine production. Inspect the receiving base after returning before replacing the generator.

Turbine animation and transmitter beams have received fixes, including client-side visual problems. Inspect the energy readings as well as the model or beam. In co-op, compare the host and client view before dismantling a working installation.

Use the power calculator with rates shown by your game, in the same units for every entry. Include charging and the machines you expect to use together. A reserve margin helps absorb changing demand, but the arithmetic does not guarantee that an unconnected generator powers a room.

Test a power setup after an expedition

Record generation and demand with your normal equipment running, then compare the same setup after returning from an expedition. A changed solar reading can reflect daylight; a fuel shortage calls for more Biofuel. For a thermal or hydroelectric source that changed without a matching change in conditions, the Hotfix 2 fix is especially relevant.

Open a charging terminal and confirm charge increases, then check the habitat oxygen state before making the base your only return point. If a problem remains on an updated game, record the source type, location and before/after readings for a bug report. Keep an independent oxygen route available while diagnosing the supply.