Batak Hydro Power Plant () is an active underground

hydro power plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also mo ...

located in

Batak, Bulgaria Batak ( ) 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 had a population of 3,498.Batak Hydropower Cascade The Batak Hydroelectric Cascade (, translit. ''Batashki Vodnosilov Pat'') is situated in the Pazardzhik Province, southern Bulgaria and is among the first hydroelectric cascades in the country. Inaugurated on 6 September 1959, it includes seven re ...

.Спасов, Мире, Електрификацията на България и нейните строители, том 2, (1948 – 2000), Издател Херон Прес, София, 2000, с. 67,

History

The idea for the construction of power plants along the

Vacha River The Vacha () is a river in southern Bulgaria, a right tributary of the river Maritsa. The 112 km long Vacha is the 23rd longest river of Bulgaria and the second longest in the Rhodope Mountains, following the Arda (272 km), another major ...

utilising the catchment area in the

Western Rhodopes The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) 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 in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak a ...

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

Batak Hydropower Cascade The Batak Hydroelectric Cascade (, translit. ''Batashki Vodnosilov Pat'') is situated in the Pazardzhik Province, southern Bulgaria and is among the first hydroelectric cascades in the country. Inaugurated on 6 September 1959, it includes seven re ...

" 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, 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. 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 Batak Reservoir () is located in the Rhodope Mountains of southern Bulgaria and is among the largest in the country. It was constructed to provide electricity generation and irrigation as a major part of the Batak Hydropower Cascade. Rich in fi ...

References

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