Hydroelectricity in Bulgaria

Hydroelectricity is a major form of energy supply in Bulgaria. The country's HEP stations have over a quarter of the country's entire installed capacity for electricity production (2 713 MW of a total of 9 728 MW, or 27.9%) ^{[1](p. 11)[2](p. 32)}, and in 2010 they provided 10.2% of the country's total supply (4 224 GWh of a total of 41 570 GWh).^{[1](p. 32)[2](p. 32)}

The 15 largest HEP stations, all owned by the state-run National Electricity Company, account for 97% of the country's HEP installed capacity and produce 94% of all HEP power.^{[1](p. 12,p. 32)} They are arranged in four series, or "cascades", of between 3 and 5 reservoirs, and all are located in the Rhodope mountains in Southwestern Bulgaria. Three of the stations are pumped-storage stations ("PS-HPP").^[1](p. 14)

Name	Location	Production Capacity (MW)	Total production (2011) (MWh)	Constructed	Notes
Belmeken-Sestrimo-Chaira Cascade	Kriva Reka	1 599	1 395 000	–	–
Chaira PS-HPP		864	774 000	1995	–
Belmeken PS-HPP		375	293 000		–
Sestrimo HPP		240	222 000		–
Momina Klisura HPP		120	105 000		–
Dospat-Vacha Cascade	Vacha River	464	530 000		–
Teshel HPP		60	120 000	1972	–
Devin HPP		82	79 000		–
Tsankov Kamak HPP		82	102 000	2011	–
Orfey PS-HPP		160	116 000	1975	–
Krichim HPP		80	113 000		–
Batak Cascade	Stara Reka, Devinska River, others	241	506 000	1955	–
Batak HPP		46	78 000	1958	–
Peshtera HPP		125	300 000	1959	–
Aleko HPP		70	128 000	1959	–
Arda Cascade (or "Lower Arda Cascade")	Arda River	326	251 000		–
Kardjali HPP		124	74 500	1957	–
Studen Kladenets HPP		82	92 000	1958	–
Ivaylovgrad HPP		120	85 000	1964	–
Other HPPs		83	165 000		–
Total		2 713	2 847 000	–	–

NEK also owns and looks after several large dams which are either used for providing fresh water only, to store water for HPPs downriver, or else have provided HEP power in the past but have ceased to do so.^{[1](p. 15-17)} These include –

Name	Location	Production Capacity (MW)	Total production (2011) (MWh)	Constructed	Notes
Iskar Reservoir	Iskar River, Sofia	–	–	1954	–
Golyam Beglik Reservoir	Kriva Reka, upriver of Belmeken-Chaira Cascade	–	–	1951	–
Dospat Reservoir	Osinska River, upriver of Batak Cascade	–	–	1967	–
Koprinka Reservoir	Tundja River, near Kazanlak	–	–	1956	Covers the ancient city of Seuthopolis

There is also a project for an "Upper Arda Cascade", which has been delayed due to complications. This cascade should include three HPPs at Madan, Ardino and Kitnitsa.

References

1. National Electricity Company – Annual Report 2011 (PDF – direct download) (NEK source page), NEK, published mid-2012. Retrieved 19 Mar 2013.
2. CEZ Elektro Bulgaria – Prospectus (in Bulgarian), 30 March 2012. Retrieved 19 Mar 2013.