The short answer
For steady power near a natural current, place a Hydroelectric Turbine where the placement preview shows output, then connect it through Power Transmitters to the base wall. Check incoming power, active demand and stored reserve before starting chargers or Metal Farms.
Before you start
- Habitat Builder and the blueprints for your chosen generator and Power Transmitter.
- Use the readings in your current build. Exact solar output, charger loads and reserve capacity are not assumed by this guide.
Choose a power source for the site
| Source | Build ingredients | Placement and operation |
|---|---|---|
| Solar Panel | 1 Titanium · 2 Quartz | Shallow exterior with sunlight. Output varies; check it after dark. |
| Hydroelectric Turbine | 3 Titanium · 3 Copper · 3 Silver | Natural underwater current; reported output 12 energy/s. |
| Thermal Plant | 3 Titanium · 3 Copper · 3 Gold | Heat source; reported output up to 16 energy/s, dependent on placement. |
| Bioreactor | 2 Titanium Ingots · 2 Copper Ingots | Interior; consumes organic fuel. Reported normal output 10, boosted output 20 energy/s with faster fuel use. |
| Power Transmitter | 1 Titanium · 1 Copper | Connects a source to the grid; creates no power itself. |
Unlock hydro power near Camp One
- Scan two Hydroelectric Turbines. One reported platform is about 355 m north-northeast of the Lifepod, beyond Camp One, around 30 m deep.
- Follow the nearby current to a second platform, roughly 390 m north-northeast of the Lifepod. These are separate scans.
- At your chosen current, move the construction preview until its output reads 12. A zero reading means the proposed position will not generate power.
- Build the turbine, then place transmitters with visible connections between successive links. Finish with a transmitter attached to the base exterior.
- Confirm the base’s incoming-power reading increases. A spinning turbine alone does not prove a working connection.
Find the other facility blueprints
Check the Blueprint menu before collecting construction materials. A site containing a scan does not mean that one scan completes every facility.
| Facility | Reported scan stop |
|---|---|
| Power Transmitter and Power Storage | Nahema’s Lab, roughly 360 m east-southeast of the Lifepod. Transmitter scans also appear at Tadpole Pens. |
| Bioreactor | Old Habitat and the Cicada Lander Garage. Scan distinct machines until the blueprint completes. |
| Thermal Plant | Tailings Village, around 540 m east-southeast of the Lifepod. Search the huts and machinery; this is a wider area, not one room. |
Sources for this section
Read demand and reserve separately
Near the base, the blue HUD reading shows generation and red shows demand. Compare them while the machines you intend to use are active. Storage holds surplus energy for later; it buys time during a deficit but cannot sustain one indefinitely.
Check the same setup at night, with the Tadpole docked and with processing or farming active. Record the lowest generation and highest demand you observe. The calculator below estimates a constant-load reserve duration from your own numbers.
Sources for this section
Open power reserve calculator
Estimate your power reserve
Enter the readings from your base while the machines you intend to use are running. If you only know a storage percentage, find the capacity first.
Use non-negative numbers up to 1,000,000. Blank fields are unknown, not zero. Example: 24 incoming, 30 demand and 600 stored gives 100 seconds of reserve.
Enter all three readings to calculate.
Estimate assumes constant readings and usable stored energy. It excludes day/night changes, fuel exhaustion, new loads and charge limits. Values stay in this page and are not connected to your save.
A farm can consume most of a small grid
Two turbines producing 12 each supply 24 energy/s. A Metal Farm’s reported demand of 20 leaves only 4 for everything else. This arithmetic is a planning example, not a measured base configuration.
If the complete base instead draws 30 while generating 24, the deficit is 6 energy/s. A reserve of 600 energy would cover 100 seconds at that unchanged load. A percentage reading must be converted using the actual storage capacity; do not enter “50” merely because the HUD shows 50%.
Sources for this section
Diagnose the outage in this order
Buddy System fixed turbine shutdowns, transmitter visuals, stale solar output and several Metal Farm power faults. It also fixed depleted storage leaving bases powered. If a fault recurs on the current build, preserve the save and submit an in-game report rather than treating the old exploit as a power solution.
| Symptom | Check next |
|---|---|
| No generator output | Current or heat placement, sunlight conditions, or available Bioreactor fuel. |
| Output at source; no increase at base | Trace transmitter links and the final attachment to the base wall. |
| Works until charging or farming starts | Read total active demand; reduce optional loads or add generation. |
| Works briefly, then fails | Watch stored energy. A falling reserve indicates a continuing deficit. |
| Client sees missing or extra beams | Compare the host’s view and actual base reading before rebuilding the chain. |
Your checklist
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Research checked 2026-09-12. This is a source-based guide; Kingy has not independently play-tested these steps. Evidence and coverage.