In the risk assessment of water conservancy projects, the application of subjective scoring method always result in unsatisfactory evaluation results due to the randomness and subjectivity of this method. In order to solve this problem, an improved scoring method based on the settlement data of insurance claims is proposed. The judgment matrix is obtained by statistical analysis of the settlement data, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method is used to sort the risk index. Considering that there are few insurance claims available in hydropower enterprises, the scale determination method of relative probability of risk occurrence and risk loss range is introduced to improve the accuracy of the risk assessment. The feasibility and effectiveness of the method are verified by the case study of a hydropower plant. The results show that there are obvious differences in risk weights of different risk factors, so hierarchical risk prevention and control measures should be formulated according to the risk weight ranking. It is suggested that this hydropower plant should increase the investment in the risk control of equipment failure, rainstorm, flood, etc., meanwhile reduce the investment in the risk control of voltage fluctuation, insulation breakdown and overvoltage, etc. To provide a reliable reference for the decision-making of risk prevention and control, the risk weights should be updated in real time according to the settlement data of insurance claims.