Another step you forgot to mention is that, in both the base game and the modded (AAI Industry) game, there's a much less efficient kind of mining drill (burner

Another step you forgot to mention is that, in both the base game and the modded (AAI Industry) game, there's a much less efficient kind of mining drill (burner mining drill) which is directly powered with coal (or other solid fuels), instead of electricity; when mining coal with it, you usually loop back its output to its input (through a burner inserter, another device powered directly with coal or other solid fuels instead of electricity), so the only thing you need to start up the whole system is a single piece of wood as the fuel for the farthest burner mining drill.