Power Generation Ladder
What each generator produces, and what it burns to do it.
Output isn't the whole story: running cost differs by fuel. Fuel Cells are farmed
cheaply in bulk (a single fuel-cell cluster can yield 500+), while turbine Lubricants must be crafted —
Industrial-grade even needs Spice Residue. Turbines win on space and hands-off running, fuel
generators on cheap fuel. Exact burn rates per hour aren't reliably documented — treat running-cost
comparisons as approximate until verified in-game.
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What Replaces What
Each diamond = one generator of the smaller type. One upgraded unit covers this many.
Rule of thumb for the upgrade path: 1 Omni = 2 Fuel-Powered ·
1 Directional ≈ 2⅓ Omni ≈ 4⅔ Fuel-Powered · 1 Spice-Powered ≈ 3 Directional ≈ 13⅓ Fuel-Powered.
What Your Base Draws
Power cost of every production station — this is the demand your generators must cover.
The tier-3 trap: upgrading a station multiplies its power draw. A Medium Ore
Refinery sips 45W, but the Large jumps to 350W — nearly 5 Fuel-Powered Generators for one machine.
Budget generation before you place large industry.
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Ore Refinery Upgrades
Bigger refineries need less ore per ingot and refine faster — that's the whole upgrade case.
Ore needed per ingot — lower is better
Seconds per ingot — lower is better
Refining Iron at the Large refinery uses 40% less ore (3 vs 5) and is twice as fast
as the Small. Copper and Steel drop to half the ore. Aluminum, Duraluminum and Plastanium can't be
refined below Medium at all. Power draw per tier: 15W → 45W → 350W.
*Steel counts Carbon Ore; each bar also consumes 1 Iron Ingot. Plastanium also needs 1 Stravidium Fiber per ingot.
*Steel counts Carbon Ore; each bar also consumes 1 Iron Ingot. Plastanium also needs 1 Stravidium Fiber per ingot.
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Spice Refinery Upgrades
The headline chain on Arrakis: every tier refines spice sand into melange better on all three axes.
2×
melange from the same sand — Large needs 50 sand per melange vs 100 at Small
13×
throughput — 266.7 melange/hour at Large vs 20 at Small
½
the water per melange — 375 mL at Large vs 750 mL at Small
Spice sand per melange — lower is better
Melange per hour — higher is better
Water per melange (mL) — lower is better
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Fabricators & Deathstills
Fabricator upgrades don't change recipes — they unlock higher-tier schematics. The cost you pay is power.
Each Advanced fabricator draws 15× the basic Fabricator (150W vs 10W) — and a full
end-game workshop usually wants all four Advanced types at once (600W combined, before refineries).