Built into this guide
Check the three coal-startup quantities
Enter your planned 100%-clock Coal Generators, powered 100%-clock Water Extractors and measured coal feed in items/min. This compares nominal inputs before you build; it cannot model belt splits, head lift, pipe layout, priming or actual output. Nothing is sent or saved.
| Quantity | Per minute or MW |
|---|---|
| Coal needed | 60 items/min |
| Water needed | 180 m³/min |
| Extractor output capacity | 240 m³/min |
| Gross generator capacity if fully fueled | 300 MW |
| Extractor demand at full clock | 40 MW |
Coal feed: meets the nominal total. Water production: meets the nominal total at the extractors.
The total water demand fits within one Mk.1 Pipeline's nominal 300 m³/min limit. This does not prove that your actual path has adequate head lift, primed pipes or correct connections.
Totals pass, not a running plant: inspect each generator's coal and water buffers, extractor power, pipe segments and the affected grid before removing the startup power source.
Community-edited source rates: Coal Generator · Water Extractor · Pipeline. Confirm all displayed rates in your installed build; this is not a playtest or a sustained-output guarantee.
Choose a starter block you can prove
The community Wiki lists 15 Coal/min and 45 m³ Water/min for one 100%-clock Coal Generator using ordinary Coal, with 75 MW gross capacity. One 100%-clock Water Extractor is listed at 120 m³/min and consumes 20 MW. Four generators therefore ask for 60 Coal/min and 180 m³/min; two extractors have 240 m³/min nominal output. That 60 m³/min water margin exists only at the extractor outputs, not automatically at every generator inlet.
The 300 MW figure is gross generator capacity if all four are supplied. The two extractors require 40 MW while running, and your miner, pumps and other machinery also consume power. Do not present 300 MW as guaranteed usable factory power. The checker above lets you replace these teaching numbers with your own planned counts and observed coal rate.
| Four-generator starter | Source-based arithmetic | What to inspect |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | 4 × 15 = 60 items/min | Miner output, belt limits, splits and each generator buffer |
| Water demand | 4 × 45 = 180 m³/min | Extractor output, pipe fill, head lift and each generator inlet |
| Two extractor supply | 2 × 120 = 240 m³/min nominal | Both extractors powered and actually delivering |
| Generation / extractor load | 4 × 75 = 300 MW gross / 2 × 20 = 40 MW | Other loads and startup power are excluded |
References: Official Satisfactory Wiki: Coal-Powered Generator · Official Satisfactory Wiki: Water Extractor · Official Satisfactory Wiki: Pipeline
Prime one generator before connecting the factory
A coal generator cannot power an unpowered Water Extractor that has not yet filled its pipes. The Wiki's tutorial describes powering the extraction and generator setup with temporary biomass generation before connecting it to the main grid. Treat that as a staged startup principle, not a guarantee that a copied layout fits your terrain or head-lift route.
Keep the new plant isolated from a large factory load until it proves it can run. If the coal source is far away, verify the actual connected belt segments rather than assuming a miner's nominal output reaches the generator. Check the first generator's coal and water inventory separately.
- Confirm the Tier 3 unlock and the installed Coal Generator/Water Extractor rates. Pick a short, inspectable first block near usable coal and deep-enough water.
- Build the coal belt, extractor, water pipe and at least one generator, but leave the wider factory grid disconnected. Use a temporary, fueled power source for the miner, extractors and any required Pipeline Pump.
- Turn on the extractor, inspect the pipe fill and the generator's water buffer. If water cannot climb the route, check the extractor's listed 10 m head lift and pump direction before adding more extractors.
- Confirm ordinary Coal actually arrives in that generator. A stocked miner or storage container does not prove the generator's own input is filled.
- Once that generator produces power on the isolated network, bring the remaining generators online one at a time. Compare each new coal and water buffer with the first working one.
- Only after sustained inputs are observed should you connect a controlled factory load. Record the power graph before and after; reconnect more consumers in stages rather than throwing the whole factory onto an unproved plant.
References: Official Satisfactory Wiki: Coal-Powered Generator · Official Satisfactory Wiki: Water Extractor · Official Satisfactory Wiki: How to play · Official Satisfactory Wiki: Pipeline
Catch the eight-generator pipe trap
An eight-generator block needs 8 × 15 = 120 Coal/min and 8 × 45 = 360 m³ Water/min at the listed default rates. Three extractors can nominally make exactly 360 m³/min. Yet one Mk.1 Pipeline segment is limited to 300 m³/min. If every drop must cross that one segment, the layout is short of transport capacity even though source production matches demand.
The remedy is not a magical fourth extractor feeding the same constrained segment. Design separate water paths or distributed feed points so no required segment carries more than its limit, then check fill and flow at the farthest consumers. Pipe junctions, head lift and startup sloshing are outside the calculator; its warning is a reason to inspect your route, not proof of a particular failure.
| Eight-generator check | Nominal amount | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | 120 items/min | Prove the actual belt/miner path can deliver this total |
| Water | 360 m³/min | Three extractors make this nominally at 100% |
| One Mk.1 pipe segment | 300 m³/min maximum | Do not route all 360 through one shared segment |
| Gross generator capacity | 600 MW | Not net power and not a measured sustained output |
References: Official Satisfactory Wiki: Coal-Powered Generator · Official Satisfactory Wiki: Water Extractor · Official Satisfactory Wiki: Pipeline
Find the first missing dependency instead of resetting repeatedly
A stopped generator is an outcome, not a diagnosis. Read its two input buffers and the supply machines while the system is supposed to run. A working first generator beside an idle last generator narrows the search to the belt or pipe path between them; a whole-bank failure points toward common extraction power, fuel supply or an overloaded grid.
Change one thing and recheck that same boundary. Adding more nominal generation does not fix a dry pipe, an unpowered extractor or a coal belt that never reaches the last machine.
| Observation | First boundary to inspect | Controlled next action |
|---|---|---|
| No water in any generator | Extractor power and initial pipe fill | Keep temporary power on; inspect extractor and first pipe |
| Near generator wet, far generator dry | Last filled pipe segment, shared Mk.1 limit or head lift | Check flow and pump direction along the route |
| Water present, coal empty | Miner, belt mark, splitter and last belt segment | Trace coal one segment at a time to that input |
| Both inputs present, bank trips when factory connects | Affected grid's capacity and maximum consumption | Reconnect a smaller load and use the linked power-trip guide |
References: Official Satisfactory Wiki: Coal-Powered Generator · Official Satisfactory Wiki: Water Extractor · Official Satisfactory Wiki: Pipeline · Official Satisfactory Wiki: Power
Make your own result reproducible
No GamerWin play session or sustained MW trace is claimed here. In your save, record the installed build, platform, clocks, fuel type, coal feed, extractor state, pipe layout and the first/last generator buffers. Capture the power graph on the correct network before and after one change.
If a reader reports a different rate or behavior, the in-game UI and a repeatable test are stronger evidence than assuming this planning example applies to every patch. Share the exact first failing boundary rather than only a screenshot of the completed factory.
Build / platform / mods / clocks:
Generators, extractors, coal source and belt mark:
First/last generator coal and water buffers:
Pipe segment limit, fill and lift/pump state:
Temporary power source and affected grid graph:
One change, time observed, result / remaining uncertainty:Before you play
- Installed rates and 100% clocks checked before applying the budget.
- Miner and extractors powered during priming; first generator receives both inputs.
- Water production distinguished from the capacity of each shared Mk.1 pipe segment.
- Factory load connected only after the isolated plant's inputs and graph are inspected.
Frequently asked questions
Are three Water Extractors enough for eight Coal Generators?
Their nominal 360 m³/min output matches the eight-generator demand at 100% clock, but one Mk.1 pipe carries at most 300 m³/min. The actual feed paths must avoid that shared bottleneck and satisfy head lift.
Why do my extractors stop when I disconnect biomass power?
Check whether the coal plant was producing on the same intended network before removing its temporary supply. Extractors require power themselves; an empty generator cannot bootstrap a dry, unpowered system.
Does the tool promise 300 MW from four generators?
No. That is their gross listed capacity when fully supplied. Extractors, miners, pumps and other consumers draw power, and this guide has not measured a running plant.
Sources & revision notes
Editorial revision: October 12, 2026. Source notes give the scope of each reference; the revision date is not a gameplay test date. Official documentation describes the publisher's system; community sources can contain errors. Use your installed game's own descriptions when they disagree.
- Official Satisfactory Wiki: Coal-Powered Generator (Community)
Community-edited indexed reference reviewed October 12, 2026 for 75 MW, 15 Coal/min, 45 m³ Water/min and the Mk.1 pipe caution. Direct page retrieval was blocked; confirm current values in game.
- Official Satisfactory Wiki: Water Extractor (Community)
Community-edited indexed reference reviewed October 12, 2026 for 120 m³/min output, 20 MW input and 10 m head lift at default clock. Direct page retrieval was blocked.
- Official Satisfactory Wiki: Pipeline (Community)
Community-edited pipeline reference and the generator page's explicit 300 m³/min Mk.1 limit reviewed October 12, 2026 through indexed extracts. Direct page retrieval was blocked. This does not certify a particular pipe layout.
- Official Satisfactory Wiki: How to play (Community)
Community-edited tutorial indexed and reviewed October 12, 2026 for temporary startup power before joining a coal plant to the main grid. Its specific build layout was not copied or tested.
- Official Satisfactory Wiki: Power (Community)
Community-edited grid and power-graph reference reviewed October 12, 2026 through indexed extracts. Direct page retrieval was blocked; graph checks are proposed, not measured here.
Published an original coal-startup fault tree, reader-input budget and two contrasting worked examples. Machine rates are linked to community-edited references; no copied guide text, player test or measured generation is claimed.
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