hydroelectric dam, dam power unit

Comments: 32

• 17 Sep, '21
  Thaina Yu

  I think maybe we could have waterfall waterwheel. A row of small waterwheel on horizontal beam that can be build like suspension bridge. It would have anchor on one side. Which generate power from waterfall contact on it. So it could could stack over itself
  
  So we don't need to calculate head difference, just add a number of stack we build directly
  
  Might be able to build on the wall. And maybe have it as a special building for the new faction

• 17 Sep, '21
  Wyld

  Could consider having the individual dam pieces integrated with a small waterwheel in the top where the water spills out. They could generate a small/medium amount of power depending on which map you are using and where they are placed in the river. EX: on a flat area of the river just to help keep some water available small amt of power generated due to small drop, on a ledge generate a larger amt of power due to larger drop to get into the rest of the river.

• 19 Sep, '21
  Michael T Crandell Merged

  I suggest that you put in a hydro dam to make power, possibly for a new water-based faction.

• 20 Sep, '21
  Thaina Yu Merged

  https://timberborn.featureupvote.com/suggestions/215305/hydroelectric-dam

• 20 Sep, '21
  pmduda Admin

  "Powerification!" (suggested by MinkuSama on 2021-09-17), including upvotes (2) and comments (1), was merged into this suggestion.

• 20 Sep, '21
  pmduda Admin

  "More Dams" (suggested by Michael T Crandell on 2021-09-19), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 24 Sep, '21
  Seizan

  A vertical water wheel (turbine basically) would be really great! Probably a bit tricky to place as it had to be under a dam/flood gate. Would let you generate power at will with flood gates. That be really cool :O

• 24 Sep, '21
  Tom

  If the water pumps suggestion is implemented, this could be a method to store energy like the irl Pumped hydro storage)

• 27 Sep, '21
  Brandon Hicks

  this is already possible with waterwheels using levees and stacked floodgates
  like so, as seen from the side:
  w_|
  |o|
  |_____w___
  
  w=water
  _=water level
  |=floodgate with levee surrounding body of water
  o=waterwheel

• 20 Oct, '21
  Harrison Fjord

  Seems like these people don't understand how a hydroelectric dam works.
  
  We literally have all the building blocks right now, except the actual generator that creates electricity from mechanical torque. And why would we need electricity when there are no electric buildings that consume it?
  
  Just use the water wheel as a turbine and use the mechanical energy directly in the factories.
  
  I'm sorry about the lecture, but I wish there was a downvote button.

• 21 Oct, '21
  Brian

  Seems like we already have this with sluice gates and waterwheels.

• 25 Nov, '21
  Quantum

  you can already create a hydro electric dam setup in game, a hydro electric dam is essentially just. a water storage up high, some form of flow restriction to force more water in then out (more water in then out means the dam will fill up. more water out then in means it will empty etc)
  https://i.imgur.com/eAxgClc.jpg
  here is a picture of my current setup. blue is where I store water as potential energy, green area is where I turn that potential energy into electricity, and red is where I actually pump water from to drink.
  
  here is an image of a flow restriction setup on experimental to help slow down how much water leaves my reservoir. a setup like this is only nessacery when your reservoir is higher then 4 blocks tall
  https://i.imgur.com/vK2zdC2.jpg
  https://i.imgur.com/T0FG9nC.jpg

• 25 Nov, '21
  Quantum

  just some quick noted about the experimental water wheel flow restriction. I have found that the flow restriction is not created by the water wheels in my situation. it is created by a potential bug. you would think that having a giant line of block missing from your dam would cause the entire thing to just instantly drain, and your correct. however if you place a block at the bottom of that entire line. the game treats the gap as a waterfall or something like that. and for whatever reason it limits the flow at which water can escape
  
  no block at bottom reservoir empties
  https://i.imgur.com/7QE6FT1.png
  block at bottom reservoir fills
  https://i.imgur.com/8MDkY0R.png

• 01 Dec, '21
  Neffster

  I am with Wyld on this one, just a dam piece that includes a small power generator, maybe 10 hp then we have to chain them all together in the water flow to make any significant power out of it. requires research to unlock and maybe logs and planks. no metal, that is to late game for this tech

• 11 Dec, '21
  Brandon

  I feel like this could be a good replacement for the compact water wheel iron teeth exclusive. It could be a dam block with a small water wheel on top. they would produce a small amount of hp individually maybe 15-20 but could be daisy chained easily

• 02 Jan, '22
  McSkirmishpants

  I am all for a small unit that could be chained together in early game but I am much more in favour for a new late game tech that requires a large amount of late game resources to produce a large amount of power.
  This would need certain width and height to make it possible and a solid achievement for any Beavers that can launch themselves into a new age of powered life if they are able to achieve it.

• 08 Jan, '22
  Eric

  A similar function could be achieved if there was a way to output a controlled amount of water from the bottom of a dam wall, then we could place existing waterwheels as needed, then output water "into" it, without needing to mess with floodgate increments at the top to create spillover. Assuming the flow mechanics allowed for that, it could be a mid/late game thing, since it could grant steady flow and power even during droughts.

• 20 Feb, '22
  Mark Taylor

  I'd actually merge this in with pipes and aqueducts (and pumps that attach to those things). Revamp the whole water-moving system. Manually hauling water around and such should only be for early-game, and building 'water-wheels' inside dam (floodgate) pieces is a natural development out of early wind/water mech-tech.

• 05 Mar, '22
  Ejr Merged

  The floodgates generate power when water is passing through them, making a nice new source of power!
  I hope that other people appreciate the idea since I think that it would be a nice addition to the game.

• 05 Mar, '22
  Zam! Admin Merged

  You already have hydroelectric floodgates. You place a floodgate and a waterwheel just behind it.

• 05 Mar, '22
  Zam! Admin

  "Hydroelectric floodgates." (suggested by Ejr on 2022-03-05), including upvotes (1) and comments (1), was merged into this suggestion.

• 08 Apr, '22
  Sven Merged

  A damn that creates power by letting water through it. The power output could for example be depending on the height difference traveled by the water going through the dam.

• 09 Apr, '22
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Power dam" (suggested by Sven on 2022-04-08), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 22 Apr, '22
  Rayne

  After all, the fun of this game is in the building of the dam.
  All the incentives to build dams are great.
  I know there are huge dams that use a mechanism where a waterfall of only one tile becomes a channel that constantly flows a small amount of water, but it would be nice if they were officially supported.

• 02 May, '22
  jcheung

  so for those who mentioned 'you can just stick a water wheel behind a floodgate', my original intention was a lategame, relatively compact (compared to a set of water wheels) water retaining structure that produced power based on how much pressure and flow was behind it (and therefore you wouldn't want more than one or two, and a really tall dam behind it) that produced reasonable amounts of power without needing to stick several dozen water wheels downstream.
  
  something to potentially shove (at the time) 11+ water wheels (2k+ hp) or more worth of production into a tall structure instead of needing 72 tiles of water wheels along the river.
  
  i had thought that perhaps one structure (or perhaps 3 different stackable ones that worked as one unit, an output, vertical penstock, and intake) had the potential to reduce visual moving parts (and asset counts) which would marginally improve performance lategame for those massive cities people (and myself) were building which ran at 10 fps.

• 24 Jul, '22
  Gake

  My own take, to flesh it out and make it different from water wheel:
  
  Hydro-Turbine
  -2x2x2 placement, can create a line of them.
  -No workers.
  -Advised to place on the bottom of the reservoir for maximum gain.
  -hph is based on depth of the reservoir, 200 hp per block in depth. Up to 1.5k hp per turbine; so HYPER good, but requires a LOT of metal to make.
  -"Dries" reservoir and spawns water on opposite end to avoid water bugging out in appearance. Similar to Mechanical Water Pump.
  -Despawns+spawns water VERY quickly; spits water out at 50% height on both tiles. Only works when needed.
  
  This should be combined with an option to make Mechanical Pump only pump under specific weather or time of day conditions to make a "water battery."

• 28 Dec, '22
  Jimmy Merged

  The grand pappy of power generation!. This should take up a 3x1 tile and can only be placed under a waterfall (x3 tiles). basically as long as there is a waterfall running over the hydro, it will produce electricity. If a drought knocked out the waterfall, power goes to zero.
  
  I would recommend around 600-800hp? Cost 8 to 10k science points.
  
  Thoughts?

• 01 Jan
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Hydroelectric generator" (suggested by Jimmy on 2022-12-28), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 15 Jan
  TonyC Merged

  Dams that create power but also hold back water in the dry season. They can be connected to a power shaft and power a building like any other power source.

• 25 Jan
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Hydropower Dams" (suggested by TonyC on 2023-01-15), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 31 Jan
  Hyruler85 Merged

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_turbine

• 10 Mar
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "for the irontooth i wish me a turbine power plant water" (suggested by Hyruler85 on 2023-01-31), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.