Phase-out model
Hydropower in Russia
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
In the Soviet Union, hydropower stations were a symbol of modernity and engines of industrialisation. However, dams destroy the sensitive freshwater systems and cause irreparable damage to the local population, fishing and agriculture. Russia produces around 17 percent of its electricity from hydro-power, and effectively has unlimited potential in this field. In the age of the “battle against climate change”, hydropower could flourish again. Yet the reality is different. While heavy industry companies have used electricity from hydropower to make their production look green from the outside, they, and the state, choose to ignore basic nature and environmental conservation standards. Not only that: large-scale power stations are unprofitable. It seems as though hydropower has come to the end of the road.
(Osteuropa 7-9/2020, pp. 195–218)