Anno 1800 Electricity - How to set your island under power

In this guide about electricity in Anno 1800 you will learn:

  • How you can build power plants.
  • What you should consider when planning.
  • Why you should already consider the rail network at the beginning of the game.

The inhabitants of your islands in Anno 1800 are extremely frugal at the beginning of a party. Even the production buildings produce under spartan conditions. When you reach the fourth population level, not only do your people's needs grow, but the production chains in Anno 1800 also become significantly more complex.

In order for the civilization on your island to continue to grow and ultimately for investors to settle in your city, you need electricity. In our article you will learn how to power up your island and why it is worth supplying it with electricity. For more helpful tips on Anno 1800, as well as the best tips and tricks for the new Anno 1800 DLC The Passage, check out the linked guides.

What is the benefit of electricity in Anno 1800?

As already mentioned, you unlock electricity as soon as you have reached the population level Engineers. However, in order to then reach the next level of investors, your island must be supplied with electricity.

Apart from this rather pragmatic advantage, electricity mainly affects the production on your island. Some of the new engineer buildings need electricity to function. However, many other businesses that you have previously built will benefit from it, but will continue to run as usual even without electricity. So the juice from the line only leads to an increase in productivity.

Electricity also brings trains and rails to your island. This can make a completely new city planning necessary

This increase is possible for most farms, except agriculture. However, this allows you to demolish one or the other building to make room on your island (more on this below).

A visual gimmick is that power poles appear along the roads. Also, the carriages and handcarts that used to transport goods will gradually disappear and be replaced by modern vehicles.

How to supply your island with electricity

Once you have the ability to generate electricity, you'll get five new buildings to spread around your island:

Oil Refineries work like farms and have a perimeter where the rigs must be located.

  • Oil Refinery: This building works similar to a logging hut or similar and has a radius in which the oil fields must be located. After building, click the refinery, then you can place the rigs on the oil fields.
  • Railroad tracks: The extracted oil is not transported by road, but by train. Therefore, in addition to the road network, you must now also build a rail network.
  • Oil port: The oil port is the storage place for the extracted oil. Therefore, the trains to the refinery come from it. The port not only serves as a warehouse, but also allows you to trade oil if you build corresponding tankers as new ships.
  • Oil depot: This is an extension of the oil port. Thanks to the tanks you can store more of the black gold.
  • Power Plant: The heart of the plant for generating electricity. This is where the oil is burned to produce the energy for your island. The power plant must also be connected by rail.

Tips and tricks for electricity in Anno 1800

The step from backwoods island state to modern metropolis has a few pitfalls. That's why we'll give you a few tips and tricks on how to quickly supply your island with electricity in Anno 1800:

Normal farms get an enormous productivity bonus if they are located near a power plant and are thus supplied with electricity.

  • Ideally, you should plan from the first minute of the game that you will have to lay rails later on, because ..
  • ... rails basically work like paths and need just as much space, but more material and money. A rail can cross a path, but houses, fields and the like block it just as they do when you build roads. If, on the other hand, you want to cross a river, then a bridge is automatically created for the rails as well. Already at the beginning, define a successful strategy in Anno 1800, according to which you will build your city.
  • When laying the rails, also note that only one train can travel per track. Plan accordingly if you need several tracks running in parallel.
  • Accordingly, the intention to lay tracks can quickly lead to the fact that you have to move your entire city or demolish buildings, if you did not have this in mind from the very beginning.
  • Power plants only provide electricity to buildings within a certain radius. Therefore, you will probably have to build several and place them specifically.
  • Power lines, as mentioned, are automatically built on all roads that are connected to the power plant and are close enough.
  • Build a refinery first, as well as an oil port and the necessary rails. When the oil production is finally running and the transport works, you can add more with the power plant. This will save you the upkeep while you figure out the layout of the rails.

More guides to Anno 1800:

Visit us on Facebook and Instagram and discuss your favorite games with us.