During World War I, the Main Artillery Administrative Department of the Russian Military Ministry started construction of a nitric acid plant there, which was essential for gunpowder production. A hydroelectric power station was designed to meet considerable demand in the energy for such a plant. Kondopoga was well suitable for such a station due to significant water level drop between Lakes Nigozero and Onega. A 30 MW station was to become the largest in Russia. However, the October Revolution and the subsequent Civil War delayed the project, which was only revived in the Soviet time as a part of the GOELRO plan. According to the project, the waters of the Suna River were to be redirected towards the hydroelectric power station via the lake system. On July 19, 1923, Sovnarkhoz of Karelia ratified the formation of a building society (Kondostroy) to build a hydroelectric power station and a major pulp and paper mill. Kondopoga became the administrative center of a district in 1932 and was granted town status in 1938. At the time, its population was about fourteen thousand inhabitants.