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 excess energy from the power grid to rapidly charge them into Full Accumulators. The base maximum charging power is 54 MW, it can, however, be increased to 108 MW by spraying the Accumulators with Proliferator MK.III. Notably, the spray does not use up and remains effective during the charging or discharging process, ensuring that the performance increase is permanent. 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. The maximum discharge rate is the same as the charge rate (54 MW for non proliferated Accumulators and up to 108 MW for Accumulators sprayed with Proliferator MK.III). Empty Accumulators can be removed from it and sent back to Energy Exchangers in Charge mode to be refilled. While the Energy Exchanger in discharge mode will try to match the energy demand of the grid, they ignore all other sources of energy (e.g. Wind Turbines, Ray Receivers and Artificial Stars), which can result in a waste of energy if different types of power sources are used on the same grid.
It is possible to balance the Energy Exchangers so that they charge when there is excess energy on the grid and discharge when the demand is high, so that no energy is wasted. To achieve this ensure the total maximum charging power of your Energy Exchangers set to charge mode is always greater the excess power on the grid. For example, lets say a grid is powered by 150 Wind Turbines, 25 Thermal Power Plants, and 1 Energy Exchanger set to discharge mode for a total of 45 MW + 54 MW + 54 MW = 153 MW. Additionally the grid never uses LESS than 60 MW. To ensure no energy is ever wasted we need the maximum charging power to exceed 153 MW - 60 MW = 93 MW, which is easily covered by 2 Energy Exchangers.

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 54 MW when filling Accumulators, filling an Accumulator in 10 seconds at full power. If the power available in the power grid is less than 54 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 54 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.
Since the Energy Exchanger's power output is constant, it is not intended to balance the power grid (as stated above, it simply reduces the load on other power sources, rather than reducing its own load). However, it can still be used for this purpose nonetheless. This is done by building a conveyor loop that is completely occupied by filler items, with a secondary conveyor loop carrying Accumulators between the Energy Exchangers. When the power grid's needs are not met, the Sorters outputting filler items will slow down, allowing Full Accumulators to make their way to the discharging Energy Exchanger. A more in-depth explanation can be found here.