Rila is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria, the Balkan Peninsula and Southeast Europe. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Musala at an elevation of 2,925 m which makes Rila the sixth highest mountain range in Europe after the Caucasus, the Alps, Sierra Nevada, the Pyrenees and Mount Etna, and the highest one between the Alps and the Caucasus. It spans a territory of 2,629 km2 with an average elevation of 1487 m. The mountain is believed to have been named after the river of the same name, which comes from the Old Bulgarian verb "рыти" meaning "to grub".
Belovo is a town in South West Bulgaria. It is the seat of Belovo Municipality. It is located in Pazardzhik Province, where the Yadenitsa flows into the Maritsa river, at the foot of three mountain ranges, on the western end of the Thracian Plain.
The dam of Belmeken is situated in the Rila Mountains in Bulgaria and is the highest reservoir on the Balkan peninsula. There is a pumped-storage plant the Chaira Hydro Power Plant built between the lake and a lower basin. Part of the water stored in the lake is cycled back and forth through the pumped storage turbines, while the lakes outflow drains through tunnels to the Sestrimo Hydro Power Plant.
Natsionalna Elektricheska Kompania EAD (NEK) (Bulgarian: Национална електрическа компания ЕАД) is a single-owned joint-stock electric company headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria. Bulgarian Energy Holding is the holder of the capital of NEK.
Hydro Power Company Gorna Arda is a Bulgarian company, established in 1999 by the National Electricity Company and the Turkish Ceylan Holding. It was established after the signing of an intergovernmental agreement between Bulgaria and Turkey for a long-term barter. The Turkish side constructs roads and a cascade of hydropower plants in Bulgaria, and Bulgaria exports energy in return.
The Kardzhali Hydro Power Plant is an active hydro power near Kardzhali, southern Bulgaria constructed on the dam of the same name on the river Arda. It has 3 individual turbines with a nominal output of around 36 MW which deliver up to 108 MW of power.
The Sestrimo Hydro Power Plant is an active hydro power project in the eastern Rila mountains near Sestrimo village, Bulgaria. Water is supplied by the Belmeken Dam to three turbines with a nominal output of around 80 MW which will deliver up to 240 MW of power. It is part of the Belmeken-Chaira-Sestrimo Hydropower Cascade. The same reservoir is used for pumped storage with the Chaira Hydro Power Plant.
The Teshel Hydro Power Plant is an active hydro power project near Teshel, Smolyan Province, southern Bulgaria. It is situated along the river Vacha in the Rhodope Mountains. It has 2 individual Francis turbines which deliver up to 60 MW of power. The Teshel HPP forms part of the Dospat–Vacha Hydropower Cascade (500.2 MW).
The Belmeken Hydro Power Plant is an active pumped storage hydro power project in the eastern Rila mountains, Bulgaria. It receives its water from the Belmeken Reservoir and has 5 individual turbines with a nominal output of around 75 megawatts (101,000 hp) which can deliver up to 375 megawatts (503,000 hp) of power, as well as 2 pumps with an installed capacity of 104 MW. It is part of the Belmeken-Chaira-Sestrimo Hydropower Cascade.
The Chaira Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant was built in the Rila mountains, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of Bulgaria's capital city, Sofia. Chaira has generating capacity of 864 megawatts (1,159,000 hp) and a pumping capacity of 788 megawatts (1,057,000 hp). The power plant is equipped with four reversible Francis pump-turbines, each rated at 216 megawatts (290,000 hp) in the generating mode, and 197 megawatts (264,000 hp) in pumping mode. Units 1 and 2 have been in operation since 1995, and at that time Chaira was the largest pumped-storage plant in southeast Europe with the highest head in the world for a single-stage pump turbine. Units 3 and 4 came online in 1999. The pump-turbines and motor-generators were supplied by Toshiba, and three of them were manufactured under Japanese supervision in Bulgaria. The upper basin for Chaira is formed by the Belmeken Dam which connects to the pumped storage plant by two headrace tunnels with a diameter of 4.2 metres (14 ft) and two penstocks with diameter 4.4 metres (14 ft), reducing to 4.2 metres (14 ft). Outflow from the Belmeken reservoir supplies the Sestrimo Hydro Power Plant
The Devin Hydro Power Plant is an active hydro power project in Devin, Smolyan Province, southern Bulgaria. Situated along the river Vacha in the Rhodope Mountains, it has 2 individual turbines with a nominal output of 44 MW which deliver up to 88 MW of power. It is part of the Dospat–Vacha Hydropower Cascade (500.2 MW).
The Krichim Hydro Power Plant is an active hydro power project in Krichim, Plovdiv Province, southern Bulgaria. It is situated downstream of the Krichim Reservoir along the river Vacha. It has 4 individual turbines with a nominal output of 20 MW which deliver up to 80 MW of power. It is part of the Dospat–Vacha Hydropower Cascade (500.2 MW).
The Orphey Pumpted Storage Hydro Power Plant is an active hydro power project near Krichim in the Rhodope Mountains, southern Bulgaria. It has 4 individual Francis turbines which deliver up to 164.8 MW of power. One of the turbines can be used as a pump as well, making this power plant a pumped storage type. The power plant uses water from the Vacha Reservoir along the homonymous river, and is part of the Dospat–Vacha Hydropower Cascade. The plant is named after Orpheus, who is said to have lived in these lands.
The Peshtera Hydro Power Plant is an active underground hydro power plant in Peshtera, Bulgaria, part of the Batak Hydropower Cascade. It has 5 individual Pelton turbines which can deliver up to 136 MW of power.
The Yadenitsa is a 26 km-long river in southern Bulgaria, a right tributary of the river Maritsa.
The Ivaylovgrad Dam(язовир "Ивайловград") is located in the eastern Rhodope Mountains and is situated on the Arda river, Southern Bulgaria. There are another two large dams of the Arda upstream - Kardzhali Dam and Studen Kladenets Dam to the west of Ivaylovgrad Dam.
Belovo Municipality is a municipality in the Pazardzhik Province of Bulgaria.
Belmeken is a summit in the northeastern part of the Rila Mountain in southwestern Bulgaria with a height of 2,626 m. It is built up of granite. Its northern slopes are steep and rise over the Kutlinite cirque. The southern and southeastern slopes are oblique. To the southeast at an altitude of 1,923 m is situated the Belmeken Dam which fuels some of Bulgaria's largest hydro power plants — Chaira Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant, Belmeken Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant, Sestrimo Hydro Power Plant and Momina Klisura Hydroelectric Power Station. Close to the summit is the Belmeken High Mountain Sports Complex at an altitude of 2,050 m, used for training, medical and biological research by athletes. The main starting points for climbing are the villages of Yundola and Sestrimo.
The Batak Hydroelectric Cascade 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 reservoirs and three underground hydro power plants — Batak, Peshtera and Aleko with a combined installed capacity of 254.2 MW, producing an average of 796 GWh annually.
The Belmeken–Sestrimo–Chaira Hydroelectric Cascade is situated in the Pazardzhik Province, southern Bulgaria and is the largest and most complex hydroelectric complex in the country. Located in the eastern part of the Rila mountain range, the complex receives waters from the drainage basins of the major rivers Maritsa, Struma and Mesta. Its catchment area is 458 km2.
