Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station
.jpg&page=pages%5CK%5CA%5CKakhovkaHydroelectricStation.htm&id=31585&pid=15552&tyt=Kakhovka%20Hydroelectric%20Station&key=Kakhovka+Hydroelectric+Station%2C+%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B0+%D0%93%D0%95%D0%A1%3B+Kakhovska+HES "The Kakhovka Dam destroyed by Russian forces in June 2023.")
Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station [Каховська ГЕС; Kakhovska HES]. The second-largest and southern most of the Dnipro Cascade of Hydroelectric Stations. It was built on the Dnipro River in the years 1950–6, 12 km southwest of the city of Kakhovka, in Kherson oblast. Each of its six generators provided 58,500 kW; together they produced an annual average of 1.4 billion kWh of energy. A highway and railway traversed the station’s 3.84-km dam complex, which held back the waters of the Kakhovka Reservoir. The city of Nova Kakhovka arose next to the station.
The Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 from the Russian-occupied Crimea resulted initially in the occupation of Kherson oblast, including the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station. The Ukrainian counteroffensive liberated the right bank of the Dnipro River in November 2022. In order to prevent the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s advance across the Dnipro River, on 6 June 2023 the Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka dam, causing the drainage of the Kakhovka Reservoir, which resulted in massive loss of lives downriver and damage to infrastructure, water supply, and the environment. Following the dam’s destruction, the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station has no longer been operational.
[This article was updated in 2025.]