Moldovan Hydropower Plant

In the late 1950s, during a period of rapid industrial expansion throughout the Soviet Union, the need arose for a powerful new power plant capable of addressing the chronic electricity shortage in the southern regions of the USSR. In March 1959, an expedition from the Lviv Department of “Teploenergoproekt” conducted a comprehensive study of the Kuchurgan estuary bank, with the institute’s specialists subsequently developing a project for a thermal power plant alongside a planned residential settlement for its workers. R. Lukavsky served as the chief engineer of the project.

Construction of the facility and installation of equipment began in 1961, and on September 26, 1964, the first power unit of what became known as the Moldovan Hydropower Plant was successfully launched — the moment that gave Dnestrovsk its very reason for existence. Over the following nine years, ten additional units were put into operation, and by September 1977, the MHPP had generated more than 100 billion kWh of electricity — a remarkable output that testified to the scale and importance of this facility.

Classified as a state facility of special importance, the plant attracted the most experienced Soviet specialists for both its construction and ongoing maintenance. Today, the Moldovan HPP remains one of the largest thermal power plants of its type on the entire continent, continuing to provide electricity to both Pridnestrovie and neighboring countries with undiminished significance to the region’s energy security.

Throughout Pridnestrovie and far beyond its borders, the plant is particularly celebrated for one exceptional engineering achievement: a smokestack standing 330 meters tall — the highest in all of Europe — a striking industrial landmark visible from considerable distances and a source of genuine local pride.

Location: Dnestrovsk