Show us your Energy infrastructure! (power plants, fuel extraction, fuel processing)

[Lucario Boricua 7,061]

Hello all!

 

Everyone knows that SimCity 4 runs on electricity, and most players think of that as an annoyance.  Fortunately enough there's some people who like to take realism to the max and choose to provide a proper rendition to the energy infrastructure.  But enough of an introduction, time for the pictures!!:

 

 

 

 

Hydropower!!

 

 

Here lies Tanamá with its hydroelectric dam and reservoir, tucked in the misty moist mountain rainforest.

 

 

 

This here is the nearby town of Guajataca, which has a slightly larger hydropower facility:

 

 

 

 

Fossil fuels!!

 

This here are the early days of the Arena Serena Thermoelectric power plant.  The great abundance of oil in the shallow sea bed of the region has prompted the use of this fuel as the region's main power source, feeding as much as 63% of the current demand.  The city's power plant complex now hosts three generating units, here it's shown with the first one only.

 

 

And here we have the Telaris Thermoelectric power plant.  The government has finally realized petroleum is more valuable as an export and as a feedstock for other products than just burnt away for quick energy, and has finally succeeded on its quest to acquire coal from the Hydrakonei Island.  Well-aware of the capital city's rapid growth, the power plant complex is sized such that it can accommodate six generating units.  At present it uses two units, supplemented by a small waste-to-energy plant to keep the city streets clean.

 

 

Finally here we have the new coal mine in the town of Hyades, at Hydrakonei Island.  The operations have started underground but may later expand to open pit mining as the regional demand rapidly increases:

 

 

 

Solar!!

 

Here we have the first solar panel array in the city of Llanos Peridoto, where the more nature-oriented mindset spurred the development of a less environmentally damaging power source.  The great weather of the area has enabled the power generation to supply the community and neighboring towns with a very clean source of electrical power.

[9gruntsand1hammer 3,199]

The Cambrian Solar Farm.

[9gruntsand1hammer 3,199]

Cool solar power plant dwils, reminds me of that huge one they built out in Sarnia a few years back.

Never seen the one in Sarnia but since I'm passing by there next month to go to London, I may try to check it out. I modeled these ones off the ones in the Sault that were built about three years ago.

[TakemeThere 5,834]

Been meaning to post in here for a while. This is a little story from my region I call From Generation to Distribution. It also serves as a tutorial for power infrastructure.

Below is the Dresden Generating Station the regions largest power plant. It's coal powered and has 4 units with a maximum capacity of 2,240MW. I've already shown it in great detail on the CJ(probably more than enough I know lol) so I'll limit the amount of pics of it here.



Power plants are measured in size with mega watts(MW) and not with mega watt hours(MWh) as the in game power plants are. The difference is MWh is the amount of power produced by a power plant over a period of time. Where as the total MW is the maximum capacity a plant is capable of producing in a given moment. Both have value for different reasons but when comparing plant sizes and how much power a plant adds to the grid MW are used.

1 megawatt is equal to 1 million watts. 2,240MW would be enough to power 22.4 million 100 watt light bulbs simultaneously.

The in game maxis power plants are hugely under scaled. In real life thermal power stations are some of the largest buildings in the world. Multi-unit plants are typically several hundred meters long and the structure which houses the boiler(s) are typically over 20 stories tall. Fossil fuel power plants also have large stacks hundreds of feet high to vent exhaust fumes.

Here are links to some of the best custom made power plants for SC4;
https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2361
https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=928
https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/27942-paengs-modular-nuclear-power-plant/
http://www.simcitypolska.pl/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=198
http://www.simcitypolska.pl/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=196
And SOMY's replica of the Fukushima power plant - Direct link
(Not meant to be an all-inclusive list)

For oil & coal power plants for its important not to forget to add storage facilities on site or nearby in the form of large oil tanks or a large coal pile.

There are many different storage tanks located on the exchange. As for the coal pile this is the one I use https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/19978-bistagne-coal-tailings-pile/

In addition all power plants have electrical switchyards. The footprint of these switch yard is usually even larger than that of the main building itself. e.g. the switch yard at Dresden GS;

The transformer lots that I use are all relotted from other people's creation so unfortunately I can't really provide too many links but here's a couple of lots that I used and relotted;
https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/21685-peg-power-substations/
https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/12629-power-transformer/
https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=928

From Dresden GS power is transmitted through three 250kV circuits towards central Pretoria. As in real life, the hydro corridors are clear cut of trees and very little vegetation is allowed to grow in a hydro right-of-way. Small bushes, scrubs and different kinds of grasslands is fine though and is more realistic than complete empty lots. This is important to keep in mind for those who are looking for added realism. A more detailed explanation for this can be found here; http://www.hydroone.com/Projects/VegetationManagement/Pages/OurTransmissionCorridors.aspx Occasionally even soccer fields are placed in hydro corridors.

I like to use a modified version of the in game power lines. https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/21686-peg-power-tower-pylons/
My region features some very rugged terrain so I can't really make use of many of the great mods out there as most of these require level ground to use so that the cables connect between the towers.

links to other custom made hydro pylons/lines;
https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/29312-150kv-tubular-pole-set-hd/?tab=comments#comment-647484
https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/28920-dutch-electric-pylon-set-380kv-donaumast/
https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/20387-power-line-set-1/
https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=563
https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/27551-french-20kv-medium-voltage-poles-hd-overhauled-and-wireless/
and a couple of rural sets - https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/13897-sfbt-rural-power-lines-by-spocky/
https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2344

I've seen a few others out there but I didn't have the links for those. Hopefully others can add them onto the thread

I was/am also in the process of making my own custom pylons based off the Pylons of Cádiz;

Unfortunately the process has stalled because I haven't been able to get 3ds max to properly render models for me.

The Hardack hydro corridor continues for many miles, eventually reaching a transmission substation where multiple hydro corridors converge and spit up. Transmission substation can sometimes be as big as a switch yard at a major power plant.

Here after lines continue on through several new hydro corridors into different areas of the city passing over residential, industrial and recreational zones.

It's important to not have actually have the power lines cross over buildings themselves - generally speaking that is. There are always a few exceptions. But it is typically very rare in real life due to the obvious hazard that it presents, though parking lots are perfectly fine though. Unlike being inside a building you can actually see if the lines are down and cars are insulated.

Eventually the lines reach distribution substations, where the voltage is reduced prior to being distributed to the local community gird.

Local power lines are underground in my region(the SC4 default), which is in fact becoming more and more common these days for aesthetic and safety reasons but many area's if not the majority of the world still have above ground power lines along streets. There is one mod I'm aware of that can add these to your cities as well - http://hide-inoki.com/bbs/archives/sc4_0856.html

And that concludes the story; From Generation to Distribution
Hope this post was informative/helpful

 

 

 

[T Wrecks 10,210]

What a fantastic post! Wonderful power plants and substations, and a good explanation to boot. This should be helpful for many players to design more realistic power grids. One question, though: Where did you get those power lines that loop upwards from the substation towards the pylons?

[kingofsimcity 5,740]

Incredibly inspirational! Makes me want to go through all my old cities and overhaul their power networks. I am very curious as to how you managed to cross the pylons over larger lots and groups of adjacent ones. Did you create custom overhanging versions to achieve this effect or is there some other method?

[simlink 1,098]

Great guide on power generation facilities and generation networks! I may try out building some of my own power networks and seeing how that goes. Thanks for posting the guide.  And great work on your own power facilities, they look awesome!

[TakemeThere 5,834]

What a fantastic post! Wonderful power plants and substations, and a good explanation to boot. This should be helpful for many players to design more realistic power grids. One question, though: Where did you get those power lines that loop upwards from the substation towards the pylons?

Thanks mate! The power lines/cables that loop up from the substations and connect to the SC4 powerlines are just some very simple BATs I made many years ago. It's kinda of funny though how something so simple can make a big difference appearance wise.
 

Incredibly inspirational! Makes me want to go through all my old cities and overhaul their power networks. I am very curious as to how you managed to cross the pylons over larger lots and groups of adjacent ones. Did you create custom overhanging versions to achieve this effect or is there some other method?

Thanks for the regards! I'm glad that I can inspire even experienced players such as yourself.
As for the pylons there's just a little trick to do it;

Start off by placing two plyons next to each other;

Then place a straight row of 1x1 park lots next to either one of the pylons. The row of lots can be as long as you want. You can make it stretch the entire length of a large sized city if you wanted, as long as the are no spaces in between
.

Next connect the first two pylons again and then drag the pylon to the other side of the park lots;

The wires will automatically crossover over the lots. Also it doesn't have to be park lots nor does it have to be 1x1 lots. The only type of lot that the pylons will not cross over is airport lots.


Now bulldoze the park lots and vola!

You can plop any kind of zone in between and the wires will remain in place, even RCI zoning.

 

Great guide on power generation facilities and generation networks! I may try out building some of my own power networks and seeing how that goes. Thanks for posting the guide.  And great work on your own power facilities, they look awesome!

Appreciate the comments and hope to see your future work with power infrastructure on this thread.

Thanks again to all for the feedback

 

 

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Give that man some rep, guys! Man, I never knew that little power line trick, but it opens up soooo many possibilities! Just think of power lines crossing your farm fields...

And that little BAT of yours... for years I've been begging anyone who was working on related stuff to make something along these lines, but it never happened. The thing is, just like you I think it makes a huge difference to actually see the power lines sloping down from the pole to the substation. I made a workaround by modifying homefryes' old substations to be overhanging so that I could draw power lines through them, but of course that's not always satisfactory.

  Edited September 18, 2015 by T Wrecks  

[markussaage 762]

Yeah, that is awesome! Well, I figured out the power line trick a while ago and it works pretty nice. What I don't know is how you connect the pylons to the substations like in the pic?! Or is it photoshoped?!

 

Kind regards!

 

[philforhockey51 4,247]

takemethere,

Bravo! Thank You for sharing your great tips and great pics.

 

markussaage,

He answered that in the first line of his last post. It's a great BAT he made.

[markussaage 762]

takemethere,

Bravo! Thank You for sharing your great tips and great pics.

 

markussaage,

He answered that in the first line of his last post. It's a great BAT he made.

I am sorry, I didn't see it... it looks really great...

Do you mind to share how you did it? If it's that simple I'd like to know...

Kind regards!

[raynev1 1,887]

@takemethere , Awesome Trick with the power lines , gonna have to try that through my farming areas . 

Thanks for sharing this technique . 

[Compdude787 916]

@takemethere:  x 9010

That is a great technique for putting powerlines anywhere! It's amazing that after 12 years, we're still learning new tricks that make this game better. I was so excited when I got this to work after playing around with it in my test city. I even plopped a tall building in between two pylons just for grins! 

I love that I'll be able to have proper industrial fillers under my powerlines in my industrial area, instead of the stupid concrete MMPs which took forever to put underneath there. And like T Wrecks said, we'll now be able to have powerlines go over farmlands, like IRL. I could also do this trick if I wanted the powerlines to go across a gorge but didn't want a pylon at the bottom of said gorge. You could even do this when you have powerlines crossing a river but don't want pylons in the middle. (you'd have to lower the sea level first, of course). Anyway, the possibilities are endless!

One thing that I should mention is that I learned the hard way that you must follow the step that I highlighted, or else this whole technique will not work.

Next connect the first two pylons again and then drag the pylon to the other side of the park lots;

Yeah, I know this is two weeks old, but I'm just seeing it now, so it's really exciting for me.

[raynev1 1,887]

Here's something I'm rather proud of , 

       

  Edited November 16, 2015 by raynev1  
Updated pic

[9gruntsand1hammer 3,199]

 

Kinross utility sector with the Natural Gas Power Plant being the main source of power for Kinross.

[Lucario Boricua 7,061]

A new heavyweight bit of energy infrastructure has arrived!!  I present you...

 

Jatibonico Hydroelectric Dam and Reservoir!!!

 

Specifications:

* Dam height: 90 meters

* Reservoir maximum depth: 75 meters

* Spillway height: 87.5 meters

* Installed power generation: 4 turbines providing 41.6 megawatts (30,000 megawatt*hours per menth)

 

Dam and hydroelectric power plant:

 

Hydroelectric complex, dam and downstream side of reservoir:

 

View with just about all the reservoir and surrounding mountain rainforest:

 

View of the reservoir with the dam and hydroelectric power plant in the foreground:

[Toby Ferrian 875]

The last power plant in my region that still uses uranium to generate power. As you can clearly see, it is not evil in any way.

[dlsni 156]

A new heavyweight bit of energy infrastructure has arrived!!  I present you...

 

Jatibonico Hydroelectric Dam and Reservoir!!!

 

Specifications:

* Dam height: 90 meters

* Reservoir maximum depth: 75 meters

* Spillway height: 87.5 meters

* Installed power generation: 4 turbines providing 41.6 megawatts (30,000 megawatt*hours per menth)

 

Dam and hydroelectric power plant:

looks good! if i were to make one suggestion (kind of pains me to say it as i can only imagine how long this took), i would use MMP water for the lower section as opposed to the lotted water. this way you can get water under the bridge rather than having the green strip which breaks it up

[Lucario Boricua 7,061]

looks good! if i were to make one suggestion (kind of pains me to say it as i can only imagine how long this took), i would use MMP water for the lower section as opposed to the lotted water. this way you can get water under the bridge rather than having the green strip which breaks it up

Is that one cheaper than the PEGPonds?  There's two critical things stopping me from changing.  I need water with a similar color to this and finding something that doesn't make the reservoir drain the treasury by 5,000 simoleons per month.  I'll do the edit once I get the replacement.

[dlsni 156]

looks good! if i were to make one suggestion (kind of pains me to say it as i can only imagine how long this took), i would use MMP water for the lower section as opposed to the lotted water. this way you can get water under the bridge rather than having the green strip which breaks it up

 

Is that one cheaper than the PEGPonds?  There's two critical things stopping me from changing.  I need water with a similar color to this and finding something that doesn't make the reservoir drain the treasury by 5,000 simoleons per month.  I'll do the edit once I get the replacement.

I'd use either RFR Plopwater or PEG PPonds (which you may already have installed). the plop cost is free, and since they are MMPs there is no maintenance cost

[Lucario Boricua 7,061]

And here's something much, much fancier for the electricity market!  I present you the Pikito Nuclear Power Station!  This facility houses two fission reactors, with space available to build a third one before land reclamation becomes necessary.  Producing a grand total of 240,000 megawatt-hours each month it will sustain the ever-increasing demands of a frantically growing region.  In order to reduce the adverse impact of an uncontained nuclear accident the facility was placed some distance away from the major urban centers of the area, with access to the sea to maximize the cooling capacity of the facility.  Due to environmental regulations in place no high power thermoelectric energy facility shall discharge cooling water directly, first requiring a cooling process in either a discharge canal or a cooling tower system.  Space an disastrous wave protection systems precluded the use of a cooling canal in order to provide a sturdy enbankment barrier.

[raynev1 1,887]

@Dragonxander That nuke plant looks awesome . 

[Lucario Boricua 7,061]

Did a small fix on the Jatibonico Reservoir--there's some PEG Pond pieces I didn't know how to use properly; also took the chance to show the completed transmission power line corridors:

 

 

 

As well as another very similar nuclear power plant on a much more convenient location: the Drakonfaucem Atomic Generating Complex!!

 

The power plant is located at this narrow, snaking peninsula, more exposed to the sea on this elongated bay.  The area is serviced by an avenue, planned for a future expansion with a bridge connecting the two snaking peninsulas:

 

This power plant has two main transmission corridors, which go out towards the mainland as two twin rows of transmission lines:

 

The facility has heightened security: a levee against both high waves from storminess and tsunamis, topped by a security fence.  Only access points are through bunker checkpoints under the levee:

 

Finally the power corridors branch out towards the corresponding neighboring cities beyond:

[TakemeThere 5,834]

I was just scrolling through the building concepts forum and I found two separate threads which this thread basically combines adn there's probably more even futher back in time.
https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/38428-show-us-your-power-plants/?page=1
https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/50339-show-us-your-power-linespower-plants/

Does simtropolis have a policy of merging similar threads? Because I think that would be useful here, although I can understand not doing it if it would require a lot of work.

[TakemeThere 5,834]

Still trying to master the art of the hydro pylon












 

[philforhockey51 4,247]

Logging school, learn how to properly cut a tree. 

[9gruntsand1hammer 3,199]

On top of the hill on the western peninsula where highway 550 curves around is the Prince Wind Farm. It has 200 wind turbines which generate 216MW of power for the region. This is the freight station where the smaller parts of the wind turbines are delivered will the tower pieces and blades are brought up here by transports. The wind farm takes up 4 large city tiles.

[TakemeThere 5,834]

Have you ever thought, "Geez I really wish Mandel's hydro pylons came with wires..."


Wait, wuttt?  

[philforhockey51 4,247]

I love how the shadow falls on the retention pond in the last one, Nice work