Batak Hydro Power Plant () is an active underground hydro power plant located in

Batak, Bulgaria Batak ( bg, Батак ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, not far from the town of Peshtera. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Batak Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 3,498 inhabita ...

, which is a part of the

Batak Hydropower Cascade The Batak Hydroelectric Cascade ( bg, Баташки водносилов път, translit. ''Batashki Vodnosilov Pat'') is situated in the Pazardzhik Province, southern Bulgaria and is among the first hydroelectric cascades in the country. Inaugu ...

.Спасов, Мире, Електрификацията на България и нейните строители, том 2, (1948 – 2000), Издател Херон Прес, София, 2000, с. 67, ISBN 954-580-079-8

History

The idea for the construction of power plants along the

Vacha River The Vacha (, ) is a river in south Bulgaria, one of the main right tributaries of the Maritsa. It is 104 km long and is formed by the confluence of the rivers Buynovska (cirillic: Буйновска река), Trigradska (cirillic: триг ...

utilising the catchment area in the

Western Rhodopes The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder ...

, dates back to 1920, when engineer Ivan Mavrov proposed it in his work "Archive of Water Power in Bulgaria". This idea was later taken up by engineer Todor Romanov in the 1930s. The conceptual and technical design for the entire "

" was developed between 1951 and 1955 in "Hydro Energy Project".Спасов, Мире, Електрификацията на България и нейните строители, том 2, (1948 – 2000), Издател Херон Прес, София, 2000, с. 66, ISBN 954-580-079-8 The project was developed by Dimo Velev, Kiril Grigorov, Gichev and others. It included dams, equalising devices and three power plants - Batak HPP (underground), Peshtera HPP (underground) and Aleko HPP (above ground). Batak HPP was commissioned in 1958 and was the first underground HPP in Bulgaria.Набатов, Никита и др. Електроенергетиката на България. София, Тангра ТанНакРа, 2011. ISBN 978-954-378-081-5 с. 49 – 50.

Technology

The turbines are driven by water that comes from the Golyam Beglik dam via a pressure diversion. The dam has a circular cross-section with a diameter of 2.40 metres, a capacity of 13.6 m³/s, a length of 11.7 kilometres and a waterfall of 400 metres. The water from the Beglika and Toshkov Chark dams and the Gashna, Cherna and Byala dams flows into the diversion. Four vertical turbo groups were installed at the Batak Power Plant. The turbines are a Pelton wheel system with two nozzles. The generators are designed for 10.5 kV. The electricity generated is exported to an above-ground 10 kV system via tunnels and bare conductor rails. The above-ground building houses the 10 and 20 kV indoor units, while the 110 kV outdoor unit, which is connected to the 110 kV power line, was built next to it. With an average annual utilisation of 2800 hours, the power plant produces an average of 109.6 GWh per year. The power plant was completely refurbished between 2000 and 2001. The waste water from the power plant is channelled via a 3 km long unpressurised sewer with a cross-section of 2.80 m x 2.80 m to the "Nova Mahala" collection tank, which then flows into the

Batak Reservoir The Batak Reservoir ( bg, езеро Батак) is located in the Rhodope Mountains and is the third largest in Bulgaria. It attracts many tourists and fishermen, and the resort Tsigov Chark was built on its shore. The lake is situated around 8&n ...

References

Hydroelectric power stations in Bulgaria Buildings and structures in Pazardzhik Province {{Batak Cascade