Energy Exchanger

Power Transmission

The power conversion facility. Can not only store the surplus electric energy in the power grid into an empty accumulator to make a full accumulator; it can also release the electric energy stored in the full accumulator.

Input Power		54.0 MW
Output Power		54.0 MW
Accumulated		540.0 MJ
Made In		Assembler
Hand-Make		Replicator
Stack Size		20

1

15 s

40

8

Summary

The Energy Exchanger is a facility whose purpose is to charge and discharge Accumulators automatically. Although the associated technology is Interstellar Power Transmission, which makes it sound like it can beam energy through space. It merely puts excess energy into Accumulators or discharges energy from them.

The Energy Exchanger has three modes of operation: Charge, Idle, and Discharge.

In Charge mode, the Energy Exchanger accepts empty Accumulators and uses energy from the power grid (up to 45 MW) to rapidly charge them into Full Accumulators. External logistics (e.g. Conveyor Belts, Planetary Logistics Stations, and Interstellar Logistics Stations) can then send the Full Accumulators to other destinations.
In Discharge mode, the Energy Exchanger accepts Full Accumulators and releases their energy into the power grid at 45 MW. Empty Accumulators can be removed from it and sent back to Energy Exchangers in Charge mode to be refilled.

Production Chain

Recipe	Building	Replicator?	Technology
1 15 s 40 40 40 8		✔

Player Tips & Tricks

By harvesting energy on planets with high solar or wind efficiency, the player can gather large amounts of energy and send it to other planets.
The number of Accumulators necessary to facilitate long-distance power transmission is large. Be prepared to build many Accumulators for this dedicated purpose.
The Energy Exchanger will consume up to 45 MW when filling Accumulators, filling an Accumulator in 6 seconds at full power. If the power available in the power grid is less than 45 MW, then the Energy Exchanger will consume only as much power is remaining, resulting in slower charge times. Ensure a stable power supply to prevent interruptions in Accumulator distribution networks.
The Energy Exchanger will always discharge at its maximum 45 MW rate (unless that exceeds the total power usage of the grid). This means when powering a world using Energy Exchangers from an off-world source, the Energy Exchangers are the primary power source for the network and all others are secondary. This means that other power generators will have lower demand, causing them to slow down or even stop. If the player is using Thermal Power Stations to burn excess materials, the Energy Exchanger may lead to bottlenecks that halt production. To prevent this, have an additional array of Energy Exchangers on the same network in Charge mode, and have the Exchangers in Discharge mode prioritize moving Accumulators around just that planet, rather than any off-world sources. This ensures that excess energy is continuously removed from and added back to the grid instead of pulling energy from off-world, thereby ensuring other power generators remain at full output. The off-world source will only be used if the network's power demands grow too large for the other energy sources on the network.