Two mini-hydroelectric power plants (mini-hydroelectric power plants), which were developed in 2013 but stopped due to local resistance, are to be implemented in Ivano-Frankivsk region.
WWF-Ukraine warns about this. Environmentalists of this organization strongly opposed such construction.
It is about the construction of mini-hydroelectric power plants on two mountain rivers of the Carpathians: on the White Cheremosh in the village of Roztoky of the Kutska community, and on the Cheremosh in the village of Holoshyna of the Biloberizka community of Ivano-Frankivsk region.
WWF-Ukraine reported that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure is currently underway, after which the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine will decide whether to grant permission for this construction.
Why environmentalists are against such projects
WWF-Ukraine experts have warned that the construction of hydropower plants in the Cheremosh valleys could cause irreparable damage to the ecosystem. Such projects will have a negative impact on the flora and fauna of the Carpathians. It will also affect Red Book plant species that grow in the area of future construction. In particular, the Red Book orchid grows in the nearby meadows, and it is not yet known how changes in the hydrological regime will affect its existence, as well as other rare plants that grow along river valleys.
“It will also affect the brown bear, because construction is already a noise load, and all animals will scatter. As for the fauna, it is fish. We very much doubt that fish passages will be properly arranged there. In other words, the construction of a hydroelectric power plant will actually affect them. And fish is a food source for the same predators,” explained Mykhailo Bohomaz, head of the Forests department at WWF-Ukraine.
WWF-Ukraine said that since 2018, they have been systematically working to dismantle the gates and restore the free flow of rivers in the region. In 2020-2022, with the support of the Open Rivers Program grant fund, they implemented a large-scale initiative to dismantle outdated, non-functioning dams in the Cheremosh River basin.
As a result, the restoration of the free flow of rivers and streams in the White and Black Cheremosh basins has revived important ecological and hydromorphological processes, created new habitats for fish, so their number and species composition have increased, and rare fish species have begun to return. According to conservationists, these changes have had a positive impact on the tourist attractiveness of the Carpathians, as “clean, free-flowing rivers are not only an environmental value but also a unique business card of the region.”
Kosivhydroenergo LLC and Hydropower LLC want to implement mini-hydroelectric power plant construction projects, according to Suspilne. Ivano-Frankivsk, citing the words of Petro Testov, an ecologist with the Ukrainian Environmental Protection Group (UPG). The expert says that the capacity of the hydroelectric power plant on Cheremosh is designed to be up to 3 MW, and on White Cheremosh – up to 480 kW.
The UPG is convinced that the construction of small hydropower plants does not solve the country's energy problems, as their capacity is negligible. They warn that the consequences for rivers, biodiversity and tourism from their construction will be catastrophic.
“In addition, such construction contradicts Ukraine's international obligations to the EU – in particular, the principle of “do no significant harm” (DNSH). Its observance is one of the conditions for obtaining funding under the Ukraine Facility program,” the UPG reminded.
As EcoPolitic reported in October 2023, environmental activists criticized the massive construction of hydropower plants in Zakarpattia due to the “pursuit of subsidies”. They emphasized that in Europe, they are trying to restore the free flow of 25,000 km of rivers, and in Ukraine, they are trying to turn them into a cascade of ponds.
We also reported that in the summer of 2024, the Ministry of Ecology suspended consideration of construction documents submitted by Hydroresource-Teresva LLC to obtain EIA conclusions for 2 channel mini-hydroelectric power plants on the Teresva River.
As EcoPolitic recently reported, in the village of Kalyny in Zakarpattia, local residents gathered on the banks of the Teresva River and stopped preparatory work before the construction of a mini-hydropower plant.
