Zaragizhskaya HPP of the Cascade of Nizhne-Cherekskiye HPPs is a 31 MW hydro power plant in Kabardino-Balkariya, Russia. It is operated by PJSC "RusHydro". Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 31k homes (estimated). It ranks #499 of 678 Russia power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2011, it is around 15 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 16.7% of Russia's electricity; the national grid averages 450 gCO₂/kWh (35.7% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061902.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 31 MW, Zaragizhskaya HPP of the Cascade of Nizhne-Cherekskiye HPPs is below the median hydro plant in Russia (72 MW). Hydropower converts the energy of falling or flowing water into electricity; output depends on rainfall and reservoir level, and large dams also provide grid balancing and storage.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by PJSC "RusHydro". All plants by this company →
This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 43.3°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Climate zone & typical temperatures: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #69 largest hydro power plant of 105 in Russia by capacity.
Russia has 105 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 45,810 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 43.3226, 43.6907 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Zaragizhskaya HPP of the Cascade of Nizhne-Cherekskiye HPPs is a 31 MW source-record hydro power plant in Kabardino-Balkariya, Russia, commissioned in 2011.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 30,634 homes (estimated).
Zaragizhskaya HPP of the Cascade of Nizhne-Cherekskiye HPPs is operated by PJSC "RusHydro".
