How to Build a Coal Generator Plant in Satisfactory (Update 1.2 Ratios and Setup)

How to Build a Coal Generator Plant in Satisfactory (Update 1.2 Ratios and Setup)

The standard Satisfactory coal generator block is 8 generators fed by 3 Water Extractors, 120 coal/min, 360 m³/min of water, 600 MW gross. Build at the water, not the coal, and kickstart the plant on an isolated circuit before you connect it to your grid.

Each Coal-Powered Generator burns 15 coal and 45 m³ of water per minute to produce 75 MW. Size your miner, belts and pumps into the load plan before you connect the plant to your grid. The most common failure is a blackout the plant causes itself, because its own miner and extractors draw from the grid it feeds.

These figures were checked against Update 1.2, stable since 2 June 2026 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Patch v1.2.4.1 (12 October 2026) mainly fixed audio mods that had stopped working since the previous patch. A further patch, 1.0.1 (build 26302335), followed on 29 October 2026.

What you need before you place a single foundation

Coal Power sits at Tier 3, which opens alongside Tier 4 once you complete Phase 1 at the Space Elevator. The milestone costs 150 Reinforced Iron Plate, 50 Rotor and 500 Cable, so stabilise your starter factory first: Reinforced Iron Plates and Rotors are the usual blockers.

The milestone unlocks the Coal-Powered Generator, the Water Extractor, Pipeline Mk.1 and its fittings (Support, Junction, T-Junction), the Pipeline Pump Mk.1, the Fluid Buffer, and Scannable Resource: Coal.

You also need:

• A coal node with a Miner. A normal node on a Mk.1 Miner covers 60 coal/min; a pure node covers 120 coal/min.
• A water source deep enough for extractors. Some shallow rivers are not usable.
• Mk.1 conveyors carry 60 items/min, so any line above 60 coal/min needs Mk.2 belts or splitting.

Coal is your first fully automated power source. Biomass Burners (30 MW standalone, from HUB Upgrade 6) need hand-fed leaves and wood, which cannot be automated. That is the whole point of this tier.

Pick your block size before you lay foundations

The 4-generator block is the manageable first step, matched by a normal node on a Mk.1 Miner. The 8-generator block is the clean ratio most players use, though some guides recommend building it as two separate 4-generator modules so each bank gets its own capacity-safe water route.

Treat those MW figures as gross generation, not spare capacity. Your miner, extractors, pumps and existing factory all draw from the same grid. Leave room to double the module later; a readable layout beats a compact one.

Site the plant around water, not coal

Choose shoreline with space for three extractors and short pipe runs, then route coal in by belt afterwards. Coal belts are far easier to extend than pipe networks across awkward terrain. If your base is far from water, build at the water and run power lines home.

To find a node, hold V, select Coal off the Resource Scanner wheel (it appears there once the milestone unlocks it), and release. Scanned nodes show on the compass with their distance, which tells you how long the belt run will be. For a wider look at node placement across the world, How to Use Satisfactory Tools covers the map, production planners and save editors, often quicker than flying the whole region yourself.

Route the water within pipe limits

Each Water Extractor supplies 120 m³/min, draws 20 MW and gives 10 m of head lift.

1. Place the extractors in deep enough water and connect them to a shared pipe system.
2. Split the flow so no Mk.1 pipeline segment carries more than 300 m³/min. An 8-generator block needs 360 m³/min, which will not fit through one pipe, so distribute it across segments.
3. Add a powered Pipeline Pump Mk.1 on any rise beyond the extractor's 10 m of lift. A pump adds up to 20 m of lift, but pump lift does not stack. Check the vertical rise from the source to the pipe run and generators, and put a pump inline on a rising run when the generator platform exceeds the extractor's available head lift.
4. Branch water to each generator with Pipeline Junctions and add a Fluid Buffer to smooth supply.

Lay out coal, water and wiring for readability

Work through the module in this order:

1. Lay a foundation large enough for the generator line plus a service lane, with room to double the module later.
2. Place the generators in one line: coal along the back, water along the front, service lane in between.
3. Run a splitter line along the back and feed each generator from it.
4. Run the water manifold along the front and feed each generator from a short pipe junction.
5. Place Power Poles on the module edge so you can read the plant's draw separately.

If one generator stops, the layout should tell you at a glance whether the problem is coal, water or wiring. Once you have a layout you like, save it as a blueprint so the second module takes minutes instead of an evening. Our Satisfactory Blueprint Guide covers saving and reusing factory modules.

Start the plant without tripping the grid

This is where most first plants die. The plant's own miner and extractors pull from the grid it feeds, so a tripped grid cannot restart itself without a kickstart. The fix is to keep the auxiliaries on a separate circuit until the plant can carry them.

1. Build the miner, extractors and pumps first, and wire them to their own Power Pole. Do not connect that pole to your main factory yet.
2. Power that isolated circuit with biomass burners. (Power Storage is a Tier 4 reward from Expanded Power Infrastructure and charges from surplus generation, so it is a later addition rather than part of the Coal Power milestone.) Confirm the miner is running and water is reaching the generators before adding load.
3. Bring the generators online on the isolated circuit and let coal and water flow until generation comfortably exceeds the auxiliaries' draw.
4. Only then connect the generator output to your main grid.

If the plant trips

1. Disconnect the plant from the main grid at the pole connecting them.
2. Restart the miner, extractors and pumps on biomass burners or Power Storage.
3. Wait until water and coal are flowing to the generators again.
4. Reconnect the plant to the main grid once generation exceeds the auxiliaries' draw.

Plan coal supply against steel

Steel production consumes coal from the same resource stream, so decide which node feeds generators before you commit it.

A pure node on a Mk.1 Miner yields exactly 120 coal/min: one full 8-generator block with nothing spare. If you need more from a single node, overclock with Power Shards, found via Power Slugs with the Object Scanner. Check the in-game machine display for current rates before you build the next block.

Common mistakes that kill a coal plant

• Building at the coal node first. You end up forcing long pipe runs; water access should drive the site choice.
• Overloading one Mk.1 pipe. 360 m³/min will not fit through a 300 m³/min segment, split the water across lines.
• Forgetting lift. Generators above the extractor's 10 m head lift starve without a powered pump.
• Connecting to the main grid too early. The plant trips, and its own auxiliaries then prevent a restart.
• Trusting old planner numbers. Some published 8-generator examples are still labelled 1.1.x data. The 15 coal / 45 water per generator ratio is consistent everywhere, but verify totals against the in-game display in 1.2.

Scaling past 600 MW into the steel era

Once your first 8-generator module runs stable, duplicate it on a second water source. Add Power Storage so a future trip can restart the plant without hand-fed biomass. Reserve one coal node for steel and route generators to a separate node before demand overlaps, because retrofitting a power plant around a steel line is miserable work.

Re-check generator and extractor rates on the machine UI after each patch before you build the next block. If you play with friends, confirm everyone is on the same version first. And if you ever want a break from pipes, there are plenty of games like Satisfactory worth a look.

For everything else on the factory floor, from milestone order to late-game logistics, the Satisfactory hub keeps the guides in one place.