Problem with power plants blowing up before they expire

[Jay W. 0]

I have a city that uses oil power plants as that is the only one available to me other than coal. When I query a power plant, their maximum age is for 72 years. So why are they blowing up WAY BEFORE this time? I started in 1900 and it's only 1920 - that's 52 years before their maximum age!  If they only last 20 years, then why doesn't it state this in the first place? There's no disaster going on such as fire or an alien invasion going on when this happens. I've noticed this happening with other cities I've built using oil as power. I've never seen it happen with other kinds of power plants - though the  only other I use is fusion power. Is this because the power demand is a lot more than what they provide? If that were the case, then why don't they blow up when I first start my city and demand increases that requires more than 1 power plant? is this some kind of glitch in the game?

[asasnat 216]

I think overloaded plants do explode but not immediately, takes a few ingame months or longer

[kSlank 146]

Don't use oil

[TheMurderousCricket 5,061]

On 14.03.2023 at 10:15 AM, Mayor K-slank said:

Don't use oil

Really... That's the kind of "advice" you provide?

On 12.02.2023 at 4:56 AM, Jay W. said:

Is this because the power demand is a lot more than what they provide?

Yes @Jay W.. From your description it pretty much looks like it. The point @asasnat also made.

I am not aware of any glitches or bugs involving power plants in SC3000. The code of that game seems to be a bit simpler and cleaner than SC4, so I don't think you should worry.

On 12.02.2023 at 4:56 AM, Jay W. said:

If that were the case, then why don't they blow up when I first start my city and demand increases that requires more than 1 power plant? is this some kind of glitch in the game?

Because there is a certain overload threshold that a power plant can handle. If you force a 6000 mwh power plant into a state where it operates on a steady 7000 mwh output, it will take some time for it to give in and fail. However, if the very same plant is to handle a, say, 18000 mwh demand, it will fizzle out way faster.

So the bottom line is that you just have to analyze your total power demand. Then, build more power plants to do some "burden sharing" between them. Of course, they need to be connected to a single grid for that to happen.

[Fivealive 4]

One thing I want to point out is when a power plant is old enough it will start to produce less power and the amount of power it produces will continue to decline till it reaches its end of life year or it blows up since it is over its now reduced capacity. the game will even let you know about this as the news ticker will inform the player and if a player uses the query on said power plant it will say that its aging and you will notice that its capacity has decreased. Because of this I almost never see a power plant reaches its full life span sense usually I will knock it down and replace it with either A. a new power plant of the same type that will produce at full capacity or B. a cleaner or more efficient power plant provided that I can afford it.

[kSlank 146]

On 3/26/2023 at 7:12 AM, TheMurderousCricket said:

Really... That's the kind of "advice" you provide?

On 2/11/2023 at 8:56 PM, Jay W. said:

Funny