Enerhodar (,, lit. 'energy's gift'; ) is a city and municipality in the northwest of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. It is on the south bank of the Dnieper River, on the opposite side of the Kakhovka Reservoir from Nikopol and Chervonohryhorivka. Its main industry is electricity generation, at coal-fired and large nuclear power stations. It has an estimated population of About 11,000 residents work at the nuclear power station. Since early 2022, it has been under Russian occupation.

History

Enerhodar was founded on 12 June 1970 to build and serve the Zaporizhzhia thermal power station. For two years, the town had no name. Zaporizhzhia TPP was under construction, and the city grew. On 23 November 1972, the village of power engineers was named Enerhodar. The complex development of Enerhodar was combined with the high rate of construction of the thermal power plant. Residential areas, kindergartens, the Energodar Hotel, and the Palace of Culture "Sovremennik" were built simultaneously with the plant's units. Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant reached full capacity in September 1977. It obtained city status in 1985, while part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, was built there in the 1980s. Construction of the building began in 1980, and its first unit was commissioned in late 1985. In 1991, the city became part of independent Ukraine. The city's two power plants continue to be major employers for its inhabitants into the 21st century.

Russo-Ukrainian War

On 28 February 2022, Russia claimed to have captured the city and the nuclear power plant. The mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, denied the claim. Civilians built a large barricade of sandbags and vehicles on the road to the nuclear power plant in an attempt to hinder Russian troop advancement. The Ukrainian military administration for the southeast confirmed on 7 March that Enerhodar had been occupied by Russian forces.

Points of interest

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