Chaira Hydro Power Plant
Encyclopedia
The Chaira pumped storage hydro power plant
(Chaira PSHPP) was built in Rila
mountains, about 100 km southeast of capital city, Sofia
.
Chaira has generating capacity of 864 MW and a pumping capacity of 788 MW, and is thus the largest pumped-storage plant in southeast Europe. The power plant is equipped with four reversible Francis pump-turbines
, each rated at 216 MW in the generating mode, and 197 MW in pumping mode.
Units 1 and 2 have been in operation since 1995, and that time Chaira was still first in the world as regards the highest head for a single-stage pump turbine (690 m generating and 701 pumping). 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 compensating basin for Chaira is the Belmeken reservoir that is connected to the Chaira pumped storage hydro power plant by two headrace tunnels with a diameter of 4.20 m and two penstocks with diameter 4.40 m, reducing to 4.20 m.
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric power generation used by some power plants for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of water, pumped from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation. Low-cost off-peak electric power is used to run the pumps...
(Chaira PSHPP) was built in Rila
Rila
Rila is a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria and the highest mountain range of Bulgaria and the Balkans, with its highest peak being Musala at 2,925 m...
mountains, about 100 km southeast of capital city, Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
.
Chaira has generating capacity of 864 MW and a pumping capacity of 788 MW, and is thus the largest pumped-storage plant in southeast Europe. The power plant is equipped with four reversible Francis pump-turbines
Francis turbine
The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts....
, each rated at 216 MW in the generating mode, and 197 MW in pumping mode.
Units 1 and 2 have been in operation since 1995, and that time Chaira was still first in the world as regards the highest head for a single-stage pump turbine (690 m generating and 701 pumping). Units 3 and 4 came online in 1999.
The pump-turbines and motor - generators were supplied by Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
, and three of them were manufactured under Japanese supervision in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. The upper compensating basin for Chaira is the Belmeken reservoir that is connected to the Chaira pumped storage hydro power plant by two headrace tunnels with a diameter of 4.20 m and two penstocks with diameter 4.40 m, reducing to 4.20 m.