Ukraine must rebuild the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant. Ukrhydroenergo, the state enterprise that administers hydro power plants, has announced it is preparing to fully design a new complex as soon as circumstances permit, Suspilne reports. 

Its destruction was one of Russia’s largest environmental and energy-related war crimes, and its reconstruction is a strategic step toward energy independence and national security. 

“We are ready to begin restoration work as soon as the war ends, the area is de-occupied, and agreements allow it,” emphasizes Bohdan Sukhetskyi, Acting CEO of the company.

According to him, a 3D model of the Kakhovka Reservoir bed has already been created, communication routes laid out, and a temporary dam planned. But actual construction can only begin after de-occupation and demining.

“Ukraine needs the Kakhovka HPP… Our first task is to ensure a water supply for the entire country. The second, to balance the power system,” Sukhetskyi reveals.

The destroyed plant was part of the Dnipro cascade of hydropower stations, which efficiently uses every drop of water from Kyiv to the Black Sea. Without Kakhovka, shipping stops, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant cannot be cooled, and clean energy isn’t generated.

“The shipping corridor from the upper Dnipro to the Black Sea is currently non-operational… until we raise the water level,” the company head explains.

Following the dam explosion on 6 June 2023, 620 km² of land across four regions were flooded. 100,000 people were affected, at least 32 were killed, and damages totaled $1.5 billion.

Some analysts see it the act as a form of revenge against Kherson Oblast for resisting Russian occupation, and as a demonstration that Russia was willing to take drastic measures when unable to hold territory by force.