It began operating on December 8, 1940, making it one of the oldest hydroelectric plants in Russia.

[3] Plant construction began in 1935[3] and the first excavator arrived in January 1936.

The plant's design was approved on May 23, 1938 by the Economic Council of the USSR Council of People's Commissars, modeled after the Rybinsk hydroelectric station.

[3] Many villages and the old part of Kalyazin were flooded by the reservoir created by the dam.

[1] In 2007 Voith Hydro acquired a contract to replace the second hydroelectric generator at the plant, after almost 70 years of operation.