Some critical comments on the quality of environmental impact assessment reports for small hydropower plants in Ukraine

Abstract

Nowadays, small hydropower in Ukraine has a small share in the national energy balance. However, in Ukraine small hydropower has been still developing, but its development is largely spontaneous, not accompanied by scientific and technical researches of small rivers, as well as an appropriate analysis of the impact of small hydropower plants on the environment. As a result, there is an increasing resistance to the building of new hydropower plants in the country by environmentalists, activists and the public.
The issue of small hydropower in our country has become a new topical challenge in connection with the adoption in 2017 of the Act of Ukraine “On Environmental Impact Assessment”. According to this Act, all hydropower plants on rivers, regardless of their capacity, including small hydropower plants, are classified as planned activities and objects that can have a significant environmental impact and are subject to environmental impact assessment.
Since 2017, in accordance with the Act, a large number of environmental impact assessment reports have been submitted to the Unified Register concerning planned activities related to the construction of new small hydropower plants, which were prepared by various entities, including universities.
The main objective of the research was to analyze the reports presented in the Unified Register and the formulation of practical comments on the quality of their preparation, the accuracy and completeness of information on the environmental impacts of the planned small hydropower plants. The purpose of the article is to familiarize professionals in the various fields of knowledge relevant to the issue, in particular, hydraulic engineers, hydropower engineers, environmentalists, as well as potential investors in small hydropower, public activists and the general public with these remarks.
Totally, 16 of reports were analyzed in detail. The main shortcomings of the performed environmental impact assessments of the new small hydropower plants planned to build were noted, including the lack of proper analysis of alternatives and scientifically sound forecasts, the incompetence of experts in the issues related to the environmental impacts of hydraulic structures. Practical recommendations were formulated that can help improve the quality of the environmental impact assessment of small hydropower plants, with the aim of avoiding environmentally hazardous decisions, taking into account the various environmental and social risks associated with small hydropower facilities.