Landslides can interrupt hydropower by damaging structures and equipment directly, or by sending sediment into rivers, intakes and water-conveyance systems. Either route can reduce generation or force a shutdown; damage to substations or transmission links can also disrupt delivery. The consequences depend on the slope, the plant components exposed and the safeguards at that site.
How a landslide can damage a hydropower facility
A moving slope can affect a plant even if the dam itself remains standing. It may remove support from a foundation or abutment, strike structures from upslope, or bury equipment. The OAS/CARILEC vulnerability assessment identifies dams, power stations and switchyards among the facilities at risk. Damage can require inspection, repair or shutdown, depending on the component and its condition. OAS/CARILEC vulnerability assessment
Hydropower also depends on a connected chain of assets. Damage at an intake, pipeline or turbine can prevent water from reaching the generating equipment; damage at a powerhouse can stop generation; and damage to a switchyard or transmission link can impede delivery even when a plant can still generate.
How landslide sediment affects water and generation
Landslides deliver sediment to streams and rivers. When the incoming load exceeds what an intake’s exclusion or settling arrangements can handle, sediment may enter conveyance systems and reach turbines. It can damage turbine equipment, reduce the efficiency of diversions and, over time, diminish reservoir storage. OAS/CARILEC vulnerability assessment
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A landslide can also block a river temporarily, creating an impoundment upstream. If the resulting landslide dam partly or completely fails, the downstream hazard can include flooding, erosion and rapid sediment deposition. In a case reported by the U.S. Geological Survey, partial failure of a 100-m-high landslide dam on Costa Rica’s Río Toro in 1992 deposited 10 m of sediment at a proposed power plant site 700 m downstream. U.S. Geological Survey report
What this means for electricity supply
Generation may fall or stop if an intake is damaged, water cannot be conveyed safely, turbines are impaired, or the powerhouse cannot operate. Even if generation continues, damage to a substation or transmission infrastructure can affect delivery. The cited sources establish these pathways, but do not give a global total of power outages caused specifically by landslides or a common probability that a landslide will disable a plant.
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The Eklutna Hydroelectric Project illustrates how slope damage can be part of a wider disaster. The USGS account of the 1964 Alaska earthquake and its aftershocks says electric service from Eklutna was interrupted during the event’s early phase and records major damage at the project’s lake intake. It also documents destroyed underground communication and electrical systems in major Anchorage slide areas. Because earthquake shaking and associated slope failures occurred together, this is a compound-hazard example, not evidence that a landslide alone caused all the reported outages. U.S. Geological Survey account
What the documented dam inventory does—and does not—show
A 2006 U.S. Geological Survey inventory identified 254 large dams worldwide, defined in that report as at least 10 m high, that directly interacted with landslides. The definition included dams built on pre-existing landslides as well as those affected by landslide activity during or after construction. The inventory was assembled through literature review, technical interviews and field work; it is not a count of every exposed hydropower facility, a prevalence estimate for hydropower assets, or an estimate of outage risk. U.S. Geological Survey, 2006 Inventory details
Of those inventoried dams, 164 were earthfill, 23 were rockfill, and 18 combined earthfill and rockfill. The USGS report notes that these flexible dam types generally perform better on potentially unstable landslide foundations than more rigid concrete dams. That observation is a tendency described in the report, not a universal rule for choosing a dam type: suitability depends on site conditions and engineering design. U.S. Geological Survey, 2006
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Investigate the slope and foundation before construction
The USGS emphasizes careful investigation of pre-existing landslides that could affect a dam foundation or abutment. Depending on the site, engineers may avoid landslide deposits when siting a facility or remove them where they meet foundation and abutment contacts. The relevant question is not simply whether a landslide exists, but whether it could affect stability, seepage or another critical component. U.S. Geological Survey, 2006
Use site-specific design and treatment
Construction on a known landslide or its remnants is not categorically impossible. The USGS reports that some dams have been technically and economically feasible there when preventive or remedial measures ensure foundation and abutment stability and keep seepage within acceptable limits. This is a site-specific engineering judgment, not a general prescription for building on unstable ground. U.S. Geological Survey, 2006
Plan for operations and recovery
Operational resilience is distinct from preventing slope failure. A plant’s response depends on which assets are exposed and how damage could affect water flow, generation and delivery. Assessment and response planning can address how operators identify damage, isolate affected equipment, manage intake and reservoir conditions, and restore service. The cited sources establish the need for site-specific management; they do not provide a single operating checklist that applies to every plant.
For any proposed measure, compare the site geology and slope activity with the component at risk—such as a foundation, intake, conveyance route, powerhouse, switchyard or transmission link—and the consequences of failure or shutdown. No one dam type or remedy is safest in every setting.
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