Dam Safety

Russian forces destroyed Kakhovskaya hydro plant in Ukraine

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Russian forces destroyed Kakhovskaya hydro plant in Ukraine
(photo courtesy Ukrhydroenergo)

At 2:50 am on June 6, Russian occupation forces blew up the 351 MW Kakhovskaya (Kakhovka) hydropower plant, according to Ukrhydroenergo.

The plant, on the Dnieper River in the Kherson Oblast (province) of southern Ukraine, was put into service in 1956. Rehabilitation and upgrade work was completed in 2013. As Hydro Review previously reported, Russian forces captured the plant in February 2022.

On June 6, the engine room was detonated from the inside, and the Kakhovskaya plant was completely destroyed. The station cannot be restored.

The President of Ukraine convened the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. Ihor Syrota, Director General of Ukrhydroenergo, took part in an emergency meeting of the council. The council members discussed the internal undermining of the structures of the Kakhovka plant and the settlements of the Kherson region that are in the flooding zone. Orders were issued to carry out evacuations from risk areas and to provide drinking water to all cities and villages that were supplied from the Kakhovsky Reservoir. The council agreed to a set of international and security measures to hold Russia accountable for the attack, Ukrhydroenergo said

As of 9:00 am on June 6, the water level in the Kakhovsky Reservoir was rapidly decreasing, and evacuation of the population from potential flooding areas was begun.

An uncontrolled decrease in the reservoir level is an additional threat to the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, Ukrhydroenergo said. Water from the Kakhovsky Reservoir is necessary for the station to receive power for the nuclear plant’s turbine capacitors and safety systems. Experts with Energoatom are monitoring this situation but say there is no direct threat to the nuclear station.

“Today, the hydropower industry is experiencing the most difficult times since the Second World War. We saw the barbaric act of destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP, which cannot be restored. But the Kakhovskaya station will definitely be built in the same place,” Syrota said. “This is a pain for us. The Kakhovka HPP performed important energy and environmental functions and provided water to the residents of the southern and central regions of our country.

“In addition to the destruction of the station, we will also have environmental consequences. Because there were more than 450 tons of machine oil in the turbines and transformers, which got into the water. Today, we are taking a number of measures at all levels to stop the ecological disaster.”

Ukrhydroenergo said the explosion did not directly affect the country’s energy system and there are no threats to the stability of the electricity supply. The electricity produced in the country is sufficient to cover consumer needs.

The supervisory board of Ukrhydroenergo also issued a statement on the event: “We condemn yet another barbaric act of the Russian troops against a civilian object – the Kakhovskaya HPP. The destruction of the station endangers the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. The undermining of the station and dam is another act of terrorism by the Russian army. Destruction of hydroelectric power plants is considered a violation of the Geneva Convention.”

As of 11 am, the rate of water level drop in the reservoir was 16 cm/hour. Ukrhydroenergo discovered the hydropower plant and the earthen dam between the powerhouse and the lock and administration building were destroyed. Hydropower engineers developed a schedule for operation of the cascade to reduce the loss of water resources.