In this section we will be looking at Electricity in Anno 1800. Electricity in Anno 1800 comes in at the Engineer level and is a core item in the game. Electricity is used for two things in Anno 1800. Firstly it can be added to buildings so that the output is increased. Adding Electricity to these buildings will double the output. The next thing that Electricity will do is enable the powering of some buildings. When you get to Engineer level some buildings require Electricity to Work.
Who needs Electricity
When looking at Electricity it is a core element in the late game and you will need it to progress. The residences that need Electricity as their basic need are Engineers, Investors and Scholars. Having Electricity to the residency will give them:
- Engineers – +10 Engineers per residences
- Investors – + 20 Investors per residences
- Scholars – + 10 Scholars per residiences
As we can see from this table that adding Electricity to the residences adds a massive amount of residents to your population. Residences that get Electricity do not generate any extra income from receiving it. You must ensure that these classes of residences get Electricity so that you can move onto the next level of the game.
Buildings that receive Electricity
Here we will look at what happens to buildings when they receive Electricity. Their are two different things that happen to buildings when they receive Electricity that depends on the type of buildings that receive it.
Buildings that get a boost from Electricity.
Here we will look at what buildings gain an advantage from Electricity. When buildings that can receive Electricity get it they will have a 100% boost to their productivity. As a simple rule of what buildings can receive Electricity boosts “All old world buildings receive a boost in the Workers, Artisans or Engineers. The buildings that don’t are farms, fisheries, lumberjacks, hunting cabins and oil refineries. So if you have any of these buildings it will be massively beneficial to ensure that they have Electricity running to them.
Buildings that require Electricity
These buildings need Electricity to run. If these buildings don’t receive Electricity they will not work. With these buildings you will need to plan carefully to ensure that they are supplied with Electricity. If you place these buildings together you will be able to have them supplies in an efficient manner.
- Heavy Weapons Factory
- Bicycle Factory
- Motor Assembly Line
- Clockmakers
- Gramophone Factory
- Cab Assembly Line
Once these buildings are supplied by Electricity they will automatically work at 200% productivity.
Producing Electricity
To produce Electricity their is numerous steps that you will have to take. We will now take these a step at a time. Lets go through these steps now.
Step 1 – Obtaining Oil
The first step to producing Electricity is to get oil. Their are two buildings that you will need to place to extract oil from the ground. First locate Oil Deposits that are located on some of the Island. These deposits can occur in the Old and New World. When you find one of these deposits you will need to place a Oil Well on top of the deposit.
In this diagram we can see both a Refinery and three Oil Wells. Notice that their is no road links between these as the Oil Well automatically transfers the Oil to the Refinery. This is the first stage of obtaining Electricity.
Stage 2 – Transporting the OIl
In this section we will be looking at the railway system that is used for Transporting the Oil. You will need to build a Railway that leaves the Refinery that will then go on its journey. The next place that it will need to go to is the Oil Harbour. When we have a Refinery and a Oil Harbour placed down the train will spawn at the Oil Harbour and will then go and collect the Oil from the Refinery. The Oil Harbour will then store this Oil for later use.
Here we see a Refinery linked to a Oil Harbour. Trains spawn at the Oil Harbour and are then sent out to collect the Oil.
Stage 3 – Oil Distribution
As we can see from the earlier sections we need Railways to transport the Oil around single islands. When it comes to transporting Oil to other islands or regions we will to use a Oil Tanker. To make this section work both the island that has the Oil and the receiving island must have an Oil Harbour. You will then need to build an Oil Tanker at the Steam Shipyard. You can then set up routes like any other routes for the transfer of Oil to the receiving island.
Stage 4 – Producing Electricity
The final stage in the production of Electricity is the need to add a Power Plant that will turn the Oil into Electricity. These Power plants are the final stage for supplying buildings with Electricity. The Power Plant will then supply Electricity to the surrounding buildings in its range.
Step 5 – Distributing Electricity
In this section we will look at how Electricity is distributed around your buildings.
How Electricity Spreads
Electricity only spreads through road tiles. Buildings are only Electrified if:
- It touches at least one road tile
- The road tile is within the Power pants range
- The Power plant is operational
If all of these are true the building gets electricity.
The range of the Power plant
- Range is based on road distance
- Roads must form a continuous path
- Paved roads will reduce the travel time for carts/trucks but they do not increase the radius.
Once you have this layout for your buildings your electrified buildings can then produce at 200% productivity. Not only that you will also have faster transportation around the Electrified area.