EXPLAINED: What’s the Big Deal With the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant? (2025)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday that Moscow would not relinquish control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) it has occupied.

The plant was reportedly included in the US peace proposal pitched to Kyiv and Moscow – where the US would control the plant as a neutral zone, supplying electricity to both Ukrainian-controlled and Russian-controlled areas. Lavrov claimed Moscow received no such proposal.

The plant has long been a point of contention due to nuclear safety and Ukraine’s energy crisis caused by Russian strikes.

What’s so special about the Zaporizhzhia NPP?

The plant is the largest nuclear plant in Ukraine and Europe, with an electricity generation capacity of 5.7 gigawatts (GW) of energy, with its six reactors.

For context, Estonia’s total installed generation capacity was 2.3 GW as of January 2021, according to an Estonian energy operator.

In comparison, Ukraine’s second-largest NPP, the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, has a nameplate capacity of 2.85 GW via its three VVER-1000 pressurized water reactors, according to Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS).

While the exact figures for Ukraine’s consumption are not disclosed, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that peak energy consumption in the winter of 2023-2024 was 18 gigawatts (GW).

A Kyiv Post analysis from the summer of 2024, during the country’s energy crisis that led to extensive blackouts, outlined the key figures and conditions of Ukraine’s energy system.

What happened to the Zaporizhzhia NPP?

The plant is located near the city of Enerhodar, in the northwest of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, which has been under partial Russian occupation since March 2022, when Russian troops advanced into southern Ukraine.

After a brief battle March 3-4, 2022, Russian forces took full control of the plant, while Ukrainian staff were forced to continue operating it under Russian military presence.

However, the plant has not been operational since Russia’s occupation.

In the months that followed, Russia fortified the plant with soldiers, heavy weaponry, and even land mines. Moscow has subsequently placed it under the control of Russia’s Rosatom state corporation, with monitoring by International Atomic Energy Agency staff.

Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of attacking the plant, raising international concerns over the potential breakout of a nuclear disaster similar to the Chornobyl nuclear disaster in northern Ukraine in 1986.

Why does Ukraine want it back?

Apart from being Ukrainian territory, Ukraine also wants the plant back because nuclear energy has been the backbone of its power supply, especially after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that 55% of Ukraine’s actual pre-war energy production came from nuclear sources, with the rest distributed between gas, oil, and other renewables.

Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s non-nuclear power generation facilities after 2022, as the fear of nuclear disasters – which would lead to international backlash – has thus far prevented Moscow from hitting Ukraine’s nuclear plants.

Ukraine has been trying to safeguard its energy security via nuclear sources during the ongoing war, with plans to expand the Khmelnitsky NPP in western Ukraine via four new reactors – two US-designed AP-1000 reactors and two Soviet-designed VVER-1000 units – with a total generation capacity, when completed, expected to exceed 6 GW.

However, Bulgaria has decided against selling Ukraine the two VVER-1000 units in April 2025, leaving the planned expansion uncertain and again calling into question the need to liberate the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

Why does Russia want to keep it?

Considering the plant is currently non-operational and still connected to Ukraine’s energy grid, Russia is ostensibly after the plant not for its electricity generation capacity, but as a bargaining chip with Ukraine, at least in the short term.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin signaled his intention in April 2024 to restart the plant, but it never came to fruition.

Safety concerns aside, restarting the plant would require substantial time and resources. Zelensky previously said that for Ukraine, extensive repair work on the plant, once it is returned, could take at least two years.

Theoretically, the plant could help supply energy to regions in Ukraine under Russian occupation. However, assuming the plant is finally functioning, Russia would also need to build a distribution network to connect everything to the Russian power grid, meaning it is unlikely to happen in the near future.

In addition, it now stands as the perfect fort since Ukraine cannot directly assault it for fear of a nuclear disaster.

Since Kyiv cannot directly assault the plant, unless it can successfully lay siege to the city, Moscow simply does not have a reason to give up the plant it has occupied with its enormous energy potential.