The Orphey Pumpted Storage Hydro Power Plant () is an active hydro power project near

Krichim Krichim ( ) is a town in Bulgaria, located in the southwestern part of Plovdiv Province close to Perushtitsa. It lies at the foot of the Rhodopes' northern slopes in the plains of Thrace, 20 km southwest of Plovdiv. The river Vacha, an imp ...

in the

Rhodope Mountains 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 ...

, southern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. It has 4 individual

Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The pro ...

sNEK brochure "Hydro Power Cascades and Dams", page 27
which deliver up to 164.8 MW of power. One of the turbines can be used as a pump as well (38 MW), making this power plant a

pumped storage Pumping may refer to: * The operation of a pump, for moving a liquid from one location to another **The use of a breast pump A breast pump is a mechanical device that Lactation, lactating women use to milking, extract milk from their breasts. They ...

type. The power plant uses water from the

Vacha Reservoir Vacha Reservoir ( Yazovir Vacha; before 1999: Antonivanovtsi Reservoir) is a body of water associated with a dam in Devin Municipality, south Bulgaria. It is part of the Dospat–Vacha Hydropower Cascade (500.2 MW) involving four more dams a ...

along the homonymous river, and is part of the

Dospat–Vacha Hydropower Cascade The Dospat–Vacha Hydroelectric Cascade () is situated in the western Rhodope Mountains of southern Bulgaria, on the territory of the Smolyan Province, Smolyan, Pazardzhik Province, Pazardzhik and Plovdiv Provinces. It is owned by the NEK EAD, Na ...

. The plant is named after

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

, who is said to have lived in these lands.

References

Hydroelectric power stations in Bulgaria Buildings and structures in Plovdiv Province Pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in Bulgaria {{hydroelectric-power-plant-stub