HVDC Volgograd–Donbass
| Volgograd–Donbass | |
|---|---|
Pylons of the line in the Volgograd Region | |
Location of Volgograd–Donbass | |
| Location | |
| Country | Russia Ukraine |
| From | Volzhskaya Converter Station (Volga Hydroelectric Station) 48°49′34″N 44°40′20″E / 48.82611°N 44.67222°E |
| To | Mikhailovskaya Converter Station 48°39′13″N 38°33′56″E / 48.65361°N 38.56556°E |
| Technical information | |
| Type | overhead line |
| Type of current | HVDC |
| Total length | 475 km (295 mi) |
| No. of transmission towers | 1417 (main line), 114 (electrode line Volgograd), 140 (electrode line Ukraine) |
| Power rating | 750 MW |
| DC voltage | ±400 kV (100 kV) |
The HVDC Volgograd–Donbass is a 475 kilometres (295 mi) long bipolar ±400 kV high voltage direct current powerline used for transmitting electric power from Volga Hydroelectric Station at Volgograd in Russia to Donbas in eastern Ukraine and vice versa.
The Volgograd–Donbass system was the second HVDC scheme built in the former Soviet Union, following the Moscow–Kashira HVDC scheme which had already been shut down. The Volgograd–Donbass system can transfer a maximum power of 750 MW. When completed in 1965, its operating voltage of ±400 kV was the highest in the world, and remained so until the completion of the ±450 kV Nelson River scheme in 1977. The scheme is today in a bad state and only operated with a voltage of 100 kV. Nevertheless, it is still being modernized, as a Google Map Picture of its crossing with M-4 motorway at 48°49′41″N 40°24′11″E / 48.82806°N 40.40306°E shows, where one can see that new pylons for the crossing of the motorway are under construction.
There are concerns over potential mercury contamination in the area near the Ukrainian terminal due to the risk of it being destroyed in the Ukrainian-Russian War. Some towers of the line north of Smile at 48°43′21″N 38°52′20″E / 48.72250°N 38.87222°E were destroyed in the war.