The “Uvac” dam is located on the Uvac River and was built in 1979. This dam retains the Sjenica reservoir. Its catchment area is 920 km2. The average river discharge is 11.5 m3/s.
“Uvac” is an earthfill dam, 110 m high (the second largest rock fill dam in Serbia) and 307 m long. Next to the right bank was built the spillway (of morning glory type) with the maximum capacity of 1,050 m3/s. The “Sjenica” reservoir is 27 km long and is located in the Uvac River canyon, which is a natural beauty and is protected as a monument of nature. The powerhouse is located next to the dam. A pre-feasibility study to the capacity increase of the generating unit was completed in 2010.
The backwater of “Kokin Brod” reservoir, which is located downstream, reaches to the “Uvac” dam; it provides so the tail race water level required for the plant operation. Under such conditions, it is not necessary to provide an additional discharge for the environmental flow. The main characteristics of the “Uvac” HPP, dam and appurtenant structures are as follows:
- “Sjenica” reservoir:
| Total volume | 200 Mm3 |
| Live volume | 160 Mm3 |
| Max. OEL | |
| Normal OEL | 988.0 m.a.s.l. |
| Min. OEL | 940.0 m.a.s.l. |
- “Uvac” dam
| Type | Earth-fill |
| Crest elevation | 990 m.a.s.l. |
| Height | 110 m |
- “Uvac” HPP
| Type | Diversion |
| Max. head | 100 m |
| Rated head | 97.5 m |
| Min. head | 55.0 m |
| Inst. flow | 43.0 m3/s |
| Inst. power | 36.0 MW |
| Ann. energy production | 72 GWh |
| No. of units | 1 |
| Type of turbine | Francis |
Source: IWRM Country Report for Serbia, COWI, Stucky and Jaroslav Cerni Water Institute, 2017