It looks like an abstraction for load balancing to me.

Imagine damage as a sudden DDoS attack. Add some techno jargon and good to go.

Edit: Hmm. Thought of something.

Has it been considered varying the diameters of the inner and outer circles as well as the locations of the nodes on the generator as a game mechanic, or even advanced upgrades that allow you to move or adjust those inner nodes. Maybe something that can be done in port. more advanced generators might not just have more power nodes but a smaller inner ring that allows more connections because geometry.

Maybe one faction uses larger inner diameter designs with more nodes and the other has smaller inner circles with less nodes when comparing two "equal" power sources.

Well that's just some throw it out there ideas.