As a result of the explosion of the engine room on the night of June 6, the Kakhovskaya HPP was completely destroyed.
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The station is not subject to restoration, Ukrhydroenergo reported.
The director general of this department subsequently announced that a new station would be built very soon on the site of the destroyed Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station. According to Igor Sirota, professional discussions have already begun, specialists from the design institute and builders have been involved.
Forbes Sirota said the restoration would cost up to $1 billion. and will last 5 years.
In addition, Sirota noted that the North Crimean Canal would dry up again after the Russians destroyed the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station and its dam.
Of course it will stay [без води]. Well, there will be no water in the Kakhovka reservoir, of course, which [і в каналі] there will be no water, it goes without saying,” he said.
At the same time, there will be no power outages, the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station did not affect the operation of the power system, since it has not worked in the power system since October last year.
As for work in the energy system, there will be no changes. As for reservoirs, higher up the cascade, there are no influences on them,” said the Director General of PJSC “Ukrhydroenergo”.
What is known about the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station
Kakhovskaya HPP is the sixth (lower and last) stage of the cascade of Dnieper hydroelectric power plants. It is located five kilometers from the city of Novaya Kakhovka.
The total installed capacity of HPPs is 334.8 MW. The length of the dam is 447 m, the maximum throughput is 21.4 thousand cubic meters. m/s. Downstream of the Dnieper are, in particular, the villages of Nikolaevka, Olgovka, Tyaginka, Ponyatovka, Ivanovka, Dnepryany, Korsunka, Krynki, Cossack Camps, Kherson and other settlements.
The decision to build the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station was made in 1950. The object was attributed to the Great Buildings of Communism, it was on the postage stamp of the USSR. For the construction and maintenance of the power plant, on the site of the village of Klyuchevo, New Kakhovka was created. About 12 thousand people, more than 30 excavators, 75 crawler and gantry cranes, 100 bulldozers, 14 steam locomotives worked on the construction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric complex.
Where does flooding occur?
The water level downstream of the Dnieper rose by 5 m due to the destruction, said the mayor of Novaya Kakhovka Vladimir Leontiev.
According to the authorities of the Kherson region, 22,000 people live in the area of potential flooding. In the city, residents of about 300 houses located on the banks of the Dnieper were evacuated.
Under the threat of flooding are 14 settlements – Dnepryany, Korsunka, Krynki, Cossack Camps, Peschanovka, Oleshki, Solonetsy, Kardashinka, Lyubimiye, Malaya Kardashinka, Naked Pristan, Belorudovo, Staraya Zburyevka, Zabarino.
The Ukrainian authorities announced preparations for the evacuation of the population from the areas on the right bank of the Dnieper. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine named potential flood zones on the right-bank part of the Dnieper controlled by Kiev – the villages of Nikolaevka, Olga, Lvov, Tyaginka, Ponyatovka, Ivanovka, Tokarevka, Ponyatovka, Pridneprovsky and partly the city of Kherson – Korabel Island.
What else is dangerous for the collapse of the hydroelectric power station
During the construction of the hydroelectric power station, the Kakhovka reservoir was formed. The Kakhovka Canal, the North Crimean Canal and the Dnieper-Krivoy Rog Canal begin from the reservoir. The reservoir provided drinking and irrigation water to the southern regions of Ukraine. By 2014, water was supplied to Crimea from there, it provided 85% of the needs of residents in fresh water. When the peninsula became part of Russia, the Ukrainian authorities blocked the channel with a dam in 2017. The Russian military unblocked the North Crimean Canal during a military operation, since March 2022, water from the Dnieper began to flow into Crimea.
If the dam is destroyed, the level of the reservoir will fall, all these channels will become shallow, which will also become a big problem. Including for the Crimea, which has just received Dnieper water,” said Sergei Stanichny, an expert from the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The upper course of the Dnieper is the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. There is no immediate threat to nuclear safety due to the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, the IAEA said. The agency’s Twitter says its experts at the Zaporozhye NPP are aware of reports of dam damage and are monitoring the situation.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.