The small hydroelectric power station "Sveta Petka" was the first facility of its kind built in the Sićevo gorge on the Nišava River, near the village of Ostrvica in 1908, in the then Kingdom of Serbia. It was built according to the project of mechanical engineer Aćim Stevović, while the supplier of equipment for the hydroelectric plant was Siemens-Schuckert Werke from Germany. For more than a hundred years from 1908 to the present, it has been working continuously without major overhauls.

It is located on the left bank of the River Nišava, at the exit from the beautiful Gradištanski Canyon of the Sićevo gorge, which is 17 km long and 35-400 m deep.
The Villa on the River Nišava, as the locals called it in the past is only 22 km away from Niš and 12 km from Niš Spa, about a hundred meters south of the international highway E-80 and the railway line, Niš-Sofia-Istanbul.

One of the main characteristics of the beginnings of the history of the modern Serbian state, after centuries of backwardness caused by known historical circumstances and liberation from Ottoman rule, was the electrification of the country. 
As part of these aspirations, ten small hydroelectric power plants of "Elektroprivreda Srbije" were created, each of which is a small museum in its own right.

The hydroelectric power plant Sveta Petka was put into trial operation on September 21, 1908, in the presence of the highest state and church authorities, headed by Crown Prince Djordje Karadjordjević, who released the plant in work. It was the first state power plant that illuminated Niš, the third in order, but the largest in the then Kingdom of Serbia that supplied Niš with electric lighting. An interesting fact is that the city had not yet resolved the issue of water supply and sewerage, and had been powered by 3,000 light bulbs. Three years later, electricity began to be used in industry.

Construction and technical characteristics:
Type of dam: The concrete threshold in the river
Height: 4 m
Turbines: 3 turbines of 220 kW — a total of 660 kW 
•    Two Francis turbines - manufacturer "M. Voith Heidenheim" - 1908
•    One Pelton turbine - "manufactured by M. Voith Heidenheim" - 1931Generators: 
 Generators: 3 generators of alternating three-phase current of 200 kW — with a total power of 600 kW
•    Two generators - manufacturer "Siemens-Schuckert Werke" Vienna - 1908
•    One generator - manufacturer "Siemens-Schuckert" - 1927
Installed flow rate: 10.5 cubic meters per second
Possible annual production: 3.10 GWh