Dnipro
Dnipro is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index, part of the Dnieper system. DneproGES (Dnipro HPP) stands on this watercourse and is written up below. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Dams Recorded
- 1
- System
- Dnieper
- Coordinates
- 50.00°, 31.44°
About Dnipro
The Dnieper or Dnepr ( (də-)NEE-pər), also known as the Dnipro ( (də-)NEE-proh), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately 2,200 km (1,400 mi) long, with a drainage basin of 504,000 square kilometres (195,000 mi2), it is the longest river of Ukraine and Belarus and the fourth-longest river in Europe, after the Volga, Danube, and Ural rivers.
In antiquity, the river was part of the Amber Road trade routes. During the Ruin in the later 17th century, the area was contested between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire, dividing what is now Ukraine into areas described by its right and left banks. During the Soviet period, the river became noted for its major hydroelectric dams and large reservoirs. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster occurred on the Pripyat River, a tributary of the Dnieper, just upstream from its confluence with the Dnieper. The Dnieper is an important navigable waterway for the economy of Ukraine and is connected by the Dnieper–Bug Canal to other waterways in Europe.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Dnieper (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Dnipro in Depth
Geography
The total length of the river is variously given as 2,145 kilometres (1,333 mi) or 2,201 km (1,368 mi), of which 485 km (301 mi) are within Russia, 700 km (430 mi) are within Belarus, and 1,095 km (680 mi) are within Ukraine. Its basin covers 504,000 square kilometres (195,000 mi2), of which 289,000 km2 (112,000 mi2) are within Ukraine, 118,360 km2 (45,700 mi2) are within Belarus.
The source of the Dnieper is the sedge bogs (Akseninsky Mokh) of the Valdai Hills in central Russia, at an elevation of 220 m (720 ft). For 115 km (71 mi) of its length, it serves as the border between Belarus and Ukraine. Its estuary, or liman, used to be defended by the strong fortress of Ochakiv.
The southernmost point in Belarus is on the Dnieper to the south of Kamaryn in Brahin Raion.
Ecology
Nowadays the Dnieper River suffers from anthropogenic influence resulting in numerous emissions of pollutants. The Dnieper is close to the Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant radioactive dumps (near Kamianske) and susceptible to leakage of its radioactive waste. The river is also close to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone) which is located next to the mouth of the Pripyat River.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Dnieper (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Dnipro: Key Facts
| Length | 2,285 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 1,670 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 503,500 km² |
| Source | Valdai Hills |
| Mouth | Dnieper Estuary |
| Drainage system | Dnieper basin |
| Tributaries | Sozh, Desna, Trubizh River, Sula River, Psel, Vorskla, Samara River, Konka River |
Facts from Wikidata Q40855 (CC0).
DneproGES (Dnipro HPP)
DneproGES (Dnipro HPP)
Gravity Arc dam · Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
DneproGES (Dnipro HPP) is a gravity arc dam on the Dnieper in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, standing 60 m (197 ft) high and completed in 1932. It carries an installed hydroelectric capacity of 1,569 MW. The structure impounds Dnipro Reservoir.
The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (Ukrainian: ДніпроГЕС, romanized: DniproHES), also known as the Dnipro Dam, is a hydroelectric power station in the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Operated by Ukrhydroenergo, it is the fifth and largest station in the Dnieper reservoir cascade, a series of hydroelectric stations on the Dnieper river that supply power to the Donets–Kryvyi Rih industrial region. Its dam has a length of 760 metres (2,490 ft), a height of 60 metres (200 ft).
The dam elevates the Dnieper river by 37.5 metres (123 ft) and maintains the water level of the Dnieper Reservoir, which has a volume of 3.3 km3 and stretches 129 kilometres (80 mi) upstream to the nearby city of Dnipro. The reservoir's two shipping canals—the disused original one with three staircase locks and a newer one with one staircase lock—allow ships to bypass the dam at its eastern end and sail upstream as far as the Pripyat River. A highway on the dam and bridge over the shipping canals enable vehicles to cross the Dnieper.
The electric station was built by the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1932.
Adapted from Wikipedia: Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Dam type
- Gravity Arc
- Structural height
- 60 m (197 ft)
- Installed capacity
- 1,569 MW
- Impounded river
- Dnieper
- Reservoir
- Dnipro Reservoir
- Location
- Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
- Year completed
- 1932
- Height rank
- #72 of 115 indexed
- Output rank
- #40 of 102 indexed
- Coordinates
- 47.8655°, 35.0792°
Notable: Iconic 1932 constructivist engineering icon; breached during WWII and reconstructed in 1950.
Among the 115 dams indexed in YearMaps, DneproGES (Dnipro HPP) ranks #72 by structural height, behind Jinping-I Dam (305 m). By installed generating capacity it ranks #40, behind Three Gorges Dam (22,500 MW).
Nearest cities: Zaporizhzhya (7 km), Nikopol (60 km), Dnipro (69 km).
More about DneproGES (Dnipro HPP)
History
In the lower reaches of the Dnieper River, there was an almost 100-kilometre (62 mi)-long stretch that was filled with the Dnieper Rapids. This is approximately the distance between the modern cities Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia. During the 19th century, engineers worked on the projects to make the river navigable. Projects for flooding the rapids were proposed by N. Lelyavsky in 1893, V. Timonov in 1894, S. Maximov and Genrikh Graftio in 1905, A. Rundo and D. Yuskevich in 1910, I. Rozov and L. Yurgevich in 1912, Mohylko.
While the main objective of these projects was to improve navigation, hydroelectric power generation was developed concurrently, in terms of the "utilization of the freely flowing water".
G. Graftio's 1905 project included three dams with a small area of flooding.
Power generation
As of 2021, the Dnieper HES-1 had nine turbines, each generating 72 MW, as well as a smaller one generating 2.6 MW for the power plant's own needs. The Dnieper HES-2, which was constructed in 1969–1980, had six turbines generating around 120 MW, and two that generated 104.5 MW.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (CC BY-SA 4.0).
DneproGES (Dnipro HPP): Key Facts
| Officially opened | 1932 |
|---|
Facts from Wikidata Q738619 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Dnipro: Quick Answers
- Where is Dnipro?
- Dnipro is located in Ukraine and Belarus and Russia, at 50.0000° N, 31.4398° E.
- Are there dams on the Dnipro?
- Yes. YearMaps records one dam on the Dnipro: DneproGES (Dnipro HPP).
- How tall is DneproGES (Dnipro HPP)?
- DneproGES (Dnipro HPP) is 60 metres (197 ft) high and was completed in 1932.
- Which river system is the Dnipro part of?
- The Dnipro is part of the Dnieper system.