T&D Mod Conceptual Design 2/8/2018

Purpose
The purpose of this mod is to introduce a new aspect of base design; transmission and distribution (T&D)
of electricity. Vanilla late game electrical design is limited to massive solar and accumulator fields with
substations distributing free power across the entire map; the only objective is maximum coverage, and
it feels both unrewarding and unrealistic.

With T&D, engineers will need to consider the layout of their power generation and consumption from
the beginning. Power generation far from consumption makes scaling easier, but early game limits will
cause high losses in transmission. Local power generation limits losses on transmission, but makes scaling
your base to the late game far more difficult. This mod also penalizes distributed power structures like
solar panels and accumulators; players will now have to choose between cheap pollution free, but
inefficient distributed power or expensive concentrated power. Additionally, due to new limits on the
number of connections for power poles and other structures, branches off of power lines may only be
achieved at transformer locations. This will remove unrealistic “spider web” power grids and encourage
much more planning to ensure all structures are adequately powered. Massive fields of electric furnaces
will be difficult to power, and players will have to constantly upgrade the power grid to match the
demands of their ever growing factory. The goal is a well ordered, visually appealing, and realistic power
distribution system which requires a non-trivial, but not overwhelming amount of planning to achieve.

This conceptual design introduces the new concepts, structures, and changes which are planned for the
T&D mod.

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New Concepts
Multiple Electricity Types
Electricity will be divided into four distinct and incompatible types:

 20 KV: Output from steam turbines, transported on 20 KV bus ducts

 345 KV: Used for long range transmission, transported on big electric poles
 480 V: Output from steam engines, solar panels, and accumulators, Used for power distribution,
transported on medium electric poles or 480 V bus ducts
 120 V: Used for power distribution, transported on small electric poles

Each electric network type can only be carried on its respective power pole, and electric components can
only be powered by the appropriate network type. Electric networks are connected by transformers
which convert from one voltage to another.

Electric Pole Chains

An electric pole chain is a contiguous string of electric poles. Each chain is assigned a unique number and
treated as one entity for the purpose of calculations.

Electric pole chains will be limited in the amount of power they can supply. Once an electric pole chain
reaches the limit, power supplied to components will be capped out. For example, if a chain requires 100
W of power, but has a capacity of 80 W, all components powered off that chain will receive 80% of their
electricity demand. Further, the capacity of electric pole chains will be uniformly enforced along the entire
length of the chain. If a 20 MW load is located halfway along a chain and another 20 MW load is at the
end of a chain and the maximum throughput limited to 30 MW, both loads will only receive 15 MW of
power.

Capacity is determined by the following formula:

𝑀𝑣
𝐶=
𝑎𝑣 𝑁
Where:

MV = the maximum capacity constant of each pole (MW)

av = the voltage drop constant for each pole
N = the number of poles in the chain

Electric pole parameters are shown in Table 1 below while transmission efficiencies over distance are
shown in Figure 1. Note that bus ducts have unlimited capacity and no losses.
Table 1: Electric Pole Capacities and Losses

Number of Poles @ Transmission Efficiency

Type MV av
95% 75% 50% 25%
345 KV 80 MW 1.001 51 287 693 1,387
480 V 40 MW 1.01 5 29 70 139
120 V 1 MW 1.02 3 15 35 70

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100%

90%

80%
345
Transmission Efficiency

70% 480
120
60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Number of Poles

Figure 1: Electric Pole Transmission Efficiencies over Distance

Electricity Distribution Losses

In addition to the throughput limit on electric pole chains, electric poles themselves now consume power
to simulate losses in transmission. Consumption of low power poles (480 V and 120 V) is set at 40 kW (4%
of max) for 120 V and 400 kW (1% of max) for 480 V per pole. For 345 KV the power consumption is much
lower relatively at 400 kW (0.5% of max) per pole. These losses can be reduced with the new Distribution
Efficiency technologies

New Components
Transformers
Transformers convert voltages to allow connection of electric networks. Transformers come in four
varieties and should have directional placement (similar to pumps):

 20 KV to 345 KV Step-Up – 200 MW capacity

 480 V to 345 KV Step-Up – 100 MW capacity
 345 KV to 480 V Step-Down – 160 MW capacity
 480 V to 120 V Step-Down – 10 MW capacity

Each transformer will accept only one inlet connection, and one outlet connection. Transformers will not
behave like substations in the current game and therefore will not be able to directly power any
structures. Transformers will be limited in throughput (as affected by Distribution Efficiency) as listed
above.

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No efficiency will be enforced to minimize UPS/FPS impact. Similar to electric pole chains, transformers
above capacity will uniformly limit the supply to all downstream components.

Bus Duct
Infinite capacity electric carrying blocks used to connect power generating structures to the electricity
grid. These will behave differently than electric poles; instead of 1x1 structures which are connected by
wires, bus ducts will need to be a continuous chain of 1x1 blocks to be connected. Similar to walls, players
will not be able to cross bus ducting in order to prevent abusing long spans. Bus ducting will come in two
varieties; 480 V and 20 KV with 20 KV bus ducting being substantially more expensive than 480 V bus
ducts.

Bus Duct Interconnections

Special end pieces for bus ducting which allows the connection of bus ducts to either power generating
structures or electrical grid components. Just as vanilla power poles adjacent to power generating
structures connect those structures to the electric network, bus duct interconnections will connect these
structures to adjacent bus ducts. Similar to bus ducts, there will be two varieties; 480 V and 20 KV. Note
that 480 V bus ducts and interconnections can be replaced with distribution panels in the late game.

Line Merger/Splitters
Large support frames for merging or splitting power lines before and after transformers. These are added
to make scaling transformers and distribution substations easier. Mergers will have no throughput limit,
will not count as part of electric pole chains, and will have distinct inlet and outlet sides. Inlet sides of
mergers can support up to two connections, while outlet sides can support only one connection (with
splitters being the opposite). The outlet side of mergers and the inlet side of splitters should only be able
to connect to transformers; this prevents breaking up electric pole chains to unrealistically decrease line
losses. Adjacent mergers/splitters will be electrically connected allowing them to act as headers.

Battery Chargers
Similar to distribution panels (former substations), except that these blocks allow the input of electricity
into accumulators. These components mean that accumulators will not be in-line with a power
demanding circuit, which limits the losses to transmission by limiting electric pole chain length. Battery
chargers are also used to enforce asymmetrical charging/discharging of accumulators; 5% of the required
current to charge accumulators will be consumed by the battery charger. Battery chargers have two
connections and can be included in electric pole chains,

Updates to Existing Components

Electric Poles
Big, medium, and small electric poles will be modified as follows:

 Each pole can support two connections of copper wire (only allowing single chains)
 Big electric poles will not be able to directly supply any structures
 Medium and small electric poles’ distribution area will be increased such that the maximum span
is fully covered

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Additionally, electric poles will no long accept power from nearby structures. This allows for the
simplification of electric pole chain lengths when using distributed power generation such as solar panels.
Instead, bus duct interconnections and distribution panels will be required.

Substations
Big and small substations will be renamed as follows:

 Big 480/120 V Distribution Panel

 Small 480/120 V Distribution Panel

Big distribution panels supply the same area as big substations, and small distribution panels supply
similarly to small substations. Distribution panels supply both 120 V and 480 V power but are supplied by
only 480 V (480 V to 120 V Step-Down transformer is built-in) Each distribution panel supports two
connections with a span limited to the medium electric pole span length. Distribution panels may be used
in electric pole chains and are counted as one medium electric pole. Similar to electric poles, distribution
panels will consume a small amount of power.

Accumulators
Accumulators will be updated such that they only accept power from battery charger components.

Power Consuming Components

All power consuming structures will be set to either use 480 V (default) or 120 V. The following are to be
120 V consumers and all others will utilize 480 V.

 Lights
 Inserters (all types)
 Combinators
 Science labs
 Siren
 Assembler 1 and 2
 Electric Mines

Steam Engines and Steam Turbines

To reduce the amount of bus ducting needed, and to simplify power plant layouts, all steam engines and
steam turbines which are hydraulically connected directly to another steam engine or turbine will allow
electricity to pass through them. In other words, a set of steam turbines (or engines) in a line with no
pipes in between will only need one connection to bus duct.

Research
Structures Available at Start
In addition to the small electric pole, the following new structures will be available without any
prerequisite research.

 480 V to 120 V Step-down Transformer

 480 V Bus Duct
 480 V Bus Duct Interconnection

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 120 V Splitter

Electric Energy Distribution 1

This research will be changed to add the following distribution items:

 Medium electric pole (already included)

 Small 480/120 V Distribution Panel

Big electric poles will be removed from this research

Electric Energy Distribution 2

This research will be changed to add the full 345 KV distribution items:

 Big electric pole

 Big 480/120 V Distribution Panel
 480 V to 345 KV Step-Up Transformer
 345 KV to 480 V Step-Down Transformer
 480 V Splitter
 480 V Merger
 345 KV Splitter
 345 KV Merger

Electric Energy Distribution 3

This new research will be added to allow 20 KV distribution items:

 20 KV bus duct
 20 KV bus duct interconnection
 20 KV to 345 KV Step-Up Transformer

This technology will be a prerequisite for nuclear power

Distribution Efficiency 1 & 2

These two new technologies reduce the amount of electricity consumed by power poles. Each technology
will decrease the amount of consumption by 25% of the original consumption. Therefore after the first is
researched, small, medium, and electric poles will consume 30 kW, 300 kW, and 300 kW respectively, and
20 kW, 200 kW, and 200 kW after the second tier is researched. Distribution Efficiency 1 will have Electric
Energy Distribution 1 as a prerequisite, while Distribution Efficiency 2 will have Electric Energy Distribution
3 and Distribution Efficiency 1 as prerequisites.

Transmission Capacity
This new set of infinite technologies will increase the maximum capacity of power poles and transformers.
Each tier will increase the maximum capacity of power poles and transformers by 5%. The first tier will
be available after completion of Electric Energy Distribution 2

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Interface Changes
Electric Poles
Pop-up for electric poles should list the chain number, number of poles, and efficiency. The colored bar
should then represent the power drawn by every structure powered by that chain, with a red cross line
to indicate the maximum power throughput available (efficiency x maximum).

Electricity Info Page

Dropdown for electric network should be changed to electric pole chains.

Mini-Map
Each type of electricity (20 KV, 345 KV, 480 V, and 120 V) should be shown as a different color when the
electric overlay is selected.

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Examples
Early Game Electric Mine Setup
In the early game, power is based on steam engines, distributed by small electric poles, and used for
electric mines and inserters. Such a setup is shown in Figure 2. If there are 8 electric mining drills (90 kW
each) and four small electric poles (40 kW each), a total of 880 kW of load is required. Since the electric
pole chain has a maximum capacity of 1 MW, and is 4 poles long, it can support a throughput of 923 kW,
and with one steam engine has a capacity of 900 kW, this layout is acceptable with respect to throughput
and capacity.

480 V Bus Duct

Steam Engines 480 V – 120 V XMFR Small Electric Pole Chain (4)
Electric Mining Drills

Figure 2: Early Game Mine Setup

Late Game Nuclear Setup

A late game nuclear power plant may power several loads over long distances. In the setup shown in
Figure 3 below, a nuclear power plant sends power to four different loads. Loads 1 and 2 are electric
furnace chains each requiring 30 MW, including loses in the 480 V electric poles. Load 3 feeds oil refineries
and requires 35 MW including pole losses, while Load 4 feeds assemblers and requires 38 MW including
pole losses. This means there is a total of 133 MW of demand on the 345 KV - 480 V Transformer (which
has a capacity of 160 MW). If the power plant is 300 tiles away, 10 big electric poles will be require to
transmit power which will occur at 99% efficiency and consume 4 MW per chain. Therefore the maximum
throughput per big electric pole chain is 79 MW; two pole chains will be required to meet the 133 MW of
demand. Two parallel big electric pole chains have a capacity of 158 MW and will consume 8 MW, putting
the total 345 KV electricity demand at 141 MW. An optimal two reactor setup is sufficient to power this
setup.

20 KV - 345 KV XMFR 345 KV Splitter 345 KV Merger 345 KV - 480 V XMFR

Steam Turbines 480 V Splitters

Load 1
Load 2
Load 3
Load 4

20 KV 345 KV 480 V

Figure 3: Late Game Nuclear Setup

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High Power Solar Setup

A solar array will be more difficult to arrange with the T&D mod. One possible setup is a “pass through”
illustrated in Figure 4 below. In this setup, one or multiple solar panel arrays power several 480/120V
distribution panels. These panels send power down a 480 V electric pole chain to one or several battery
chargers, which in turn, feed one or several accumulator arrays. Each accumulator array feeds a 480/120V
distribution panel, and that electricity is transmitted to loads downstream.

Suppose the load is 10 MW which includes all downstream power consumption (including distribution
panels within the accumulator arrays) and for simplicity assume that the solar panels are full power for
the half 416 second in-game day and full off for the rest. For a load of 10 MW to be fully supplied for the
208 second night, 2,080 MW-seconds must be stored over 416 accumulators. For margin, assume 450
accumulators are used in nine 50 accumulator arrays. With nine battery chargers, the chain length within
the accumulator arrays will be 9. A minimum power of 20 MW will be required from the battery chargers
(10 MW to charge the accumulators, 10 MW to power the downsteam load). With the 5% markup for
battery charger supply, a total of 21 MW must enter the accumulator array. To achieve this power, 410
solar panels are required. However, this is exempting transmission losses within the solar panel arrays.
Ten 50 panel arrays will provide 30 MW of power, and will consume 4 MW in transmission losses putting
a total demand of 25 MW on the solar arrays. If the solar array arrays and accumulator arrays are
separated by 5 medium poles, the total electric pole length is 24 (10 poles within solar array, 5 poles
between arrays, 9 poles within accumulator array). This means the maximum throughput of the electric
pole chain is 31.5 MW. Since the maximum power is less than the allowable throughput, this layout is
acceptable.

Distribution Panels Battery Charger

Load

Solar Panel Arrays Accumulator Array

Figure 4: High Power Solar Layout

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