Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant

Kyiv Hydroelectric Station (Ukrainian: Київська ГЕС, romanized: Kyivska HES) is a run-of-river power plant on the Dnieper River in Vyshhorod, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. The 288 m (945 ft) long dam creates the Kyiv Reservoir with the purpose of hydroelectric power generation and navigability with the dam's associated lock. The first of 20 generators in the power station was commissioned in 1964, and the last in 1968. Together with the Kyiv Pumped Storage Power Plant, it creates a hydroelectricity generating complex. It is operated by the Ukrhydroenergo. Turbines for the plant were produced by the Kharkiv Factory Turboatom, and generators by the Kharkiv Factory "Elektrovazhmash".

Kyiv Hydroelectric Station
View on station from Vyshhorod
Location of Kyiv Hydroelectric Station in Ukraine
Location	Vyshhorod, Ukraine
Coordinates	50°35′18.02″N 30°30′44.36″E
Purpose	Power, navigation
Status	Operational
Opening date	1964 (1964)
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Earth-fill embankment with gravity sections
Impounds	Dnieper River
Length	288 m (945 ft)
Spillway capacity	12,500 m3/s (441,433 cu ft/s)
Reservoir
Creates	Kyiv Reservoir
Total capacity	3,780×10^6 m3 (3,064,496 acre⋅ft)
Surface area	922 km2 (356 sq mi)
Power Station
Operator(s)	Ukrhydroenergo
Commission date	1964-1968
Hydraulic head	12 m (39 ft)
Turbines	20; 4 x 22.7 MW, 16 x 20.5 MW bulb turbine
Installed capacity	418.8 MW
Annual generation	683 GWh

Kyiv Power generating complex near Vyshhorod

Construction

The Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant project was developed by the leading project research institute, UkrHydroProekt. Construction began in October 1960 and was carried out by the Kremenchugs'bud Trust collective. Numerous innovative organizational and construction solutions were implemented during the project.

The use of prefabricated reinforced concrete significantly reduced both the construction costs and timeline while improving the quality of the structures. Additionally, the Kyiv HPP pioneered the use of high-frequency technology for installing large concrete constructions, marking a first in the field of hydroelectric plant construction.

Timeline

1960

• October–December: organization of the construction site, weaving the trenches of the pit.

1961

• June: first concrete plant was built.
• July: start of the pumping of the gateway
• August: first cubic meter of concrete is enclosed in a navigable gateway
• October: beginning of excavation works on the left bank dam

1962

• January: transition through Dnepr to the transmission line is 35 kV
• March: start of work in the hydroelectric excavation
• May: first cubic meter of concrete is enclosed in the foundation of the hydroelectric power station

1963

• April: concreting slopes of the left bank dam began

1964

• September: shipyards were put into operation
• November: flooding of the pit and the Dnipro overpass
• December: commissioning of the first unit of the hydroelectric power station

1965

Start of units No. 2–4

1966

Start of units No. 5–10

1967

Start of units No. 11–16

1968

Start of units No. 17–20

During the construction of the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant, groundworks were carried out in an amount of 79 400 thousand cubic meters; 825 thousand cubic meters of monolithic concrete was made.

Specifications

For the first time in the former USSR, the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) used low-pressure horizontal capsule hydro units.

The Kyiv HPP is unique because it was the first in domestic hydropower construction to combine a hydroelectric power plant with a concrete spillway dam featuring 20 waterways.

The hydroelectric power station is 51 meters wide and 285 meters long. It is a connected structure, divided by temperature and sediment seams into five blocks, each containing four horizontal capsule units.

The water reservoir at Kyiv HPP is a channel-type, river reservoir with limited seasonal regulation. The total length of the protective structures is 70 kilometers, and the highest point of the channel dam reaches 22 meters.

The main components of the HPP include:

• The hydroelectric plant with facilities on both the right and left banks
• An open 110 kV distribution unit (GRP)
• A combined concrete spillway dam with 20 waterways.

Other key elements include:

• Right and left bank dams
• A protective dam on the right bank
• A dam between the navigation lock and the power station
• A wave-separating dam
• A channel rowing dam
• A pressureless dam on the left bank
• The Kyiv navigation lock, which is now managed by the State Enterprise "Ukrvodshlyah."

The power plant is equipped with 20 horizontal capsule units, each fitted with PL/GK-600M rotary-blade hydro turbines from the Kharkiv Turbine Plant and SGK-538/160-70 horizontal synchronous generators produced by Electrotyazhmash. After the modernization of these hydro units, the plant’s installed capacity is now 440 MW.

Above the flowing part of the generating premises are located the main generator outputs, oil pressure equipment with speed regulators, pumps, and other related systems.

The upper ceiling of these premises, combined with a deformed metal cover, forms the spillway threshold.

Russo-Ukrainian War

On 24 February 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Andrii Nikonchuk died defending the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant from Russian air raids. On 26 August 2024, an energy facility of the complex was damaged in a Russian attack. Throughout the war, concerns have been raised over the effects of flooding caused by a possible dam collapse on the Kyiv area in case of an attack.

See also

• Hydroelectricity in Ukraine
• List of power stations in Ukraine

External links

Media related to Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant at Wikimedia Commons