site.btaNEK-Managed Reservoirs Full at Nearly 65% of Capacity

Reservoirs managed by the National Electric Company (NEK) are full at 64.8% of their capacity, said Deputy Energy Minister Georgi Samandov on Wednesday during a parliamentary hearing on water shortages across the country. He cited data from a report by NEK on the condition of the complex and significant dams managed by the company. 

NEK manages 21 such dams. Most of them have a complex purpose. This means that the water from them is used for water supply, power generation, industry and other purposes. The competent authority for water management in these dams is the Ministry of Environment and Water, which issues permits for water abstraction, and prepares annual and monthly schedules for the use of water, Samandov said. 

For drinking and domestic water supply, the dams Iskar, Kokalyane, Kalin and Karagyol are used. The dams Belmeken, Golyam Beglik, Batak, Dospat, Krichim, Ivaylovgrad and Alexander Stamboliyski also play a role in supplementary and emergency water supply. In the current season, Batak and Belmeken are actively used to meet irrigation needs, and to a lesser extent Krichim, Vacha and Alexander Stamboliyski, Samandov said. 

The operation of hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) during the irrigation season is entirely subordinated to the needs of irrigation, and electricity production appears as an additional effect of the complex use of the resource and does not take away water provided for irrigation needs, said the Deputy Minister. In the dams managed by NEK, including those used for drinking and domestic water supply, there is a volume available to meet the needs of the population. The most strategic in this respect, Iskar Dam, currently is full at 78.5%, or 540 million cubic meters, Samandov said, adding that this is enough to meet the needs of the population even if drought continues throughout next year. 

The data on inflow in the first half of this year for the four large hydropower cascades operated by NEK - Belmeken-Sestrimo-Momina Klisura, Batashki Vodnosilov Pat, "Dospat-Vacha" and Arda, show that they are over 43% lower compared to the past four years. The available water reserves for electricity production from hydroelectric power plants have been reduced compared to previous years and the inflows from mid-2023 to date are significantly lower than the previous ones, but at the moment the dams managed by NEK have available volume to meet the needs of the population for drinking and domestic water supply and the provision of water quantities for irrigation. At present, all four large hydropower cascades have the necessary resources to cover the needs of the regulated market, added Samandov.