dam forms the Volgograd reservoir. At present the station is managed by OAO Volzhskaya GES that is owned by OAO GidroOGK, a daughter company of the state organisation RAO AES Rossii. The generators of the power plant are connected to the power grid in a somewhat unusual way, since the machine transformers of the generators serve also as the inverter transformers of the static inverter plant of HVDC Volgograd-Donbass, which is on the dam. In contrast to other static inverter plants, it has no harmonic filters. Economic value The new plant played a decisive role in the development of the Lower Volga region and the Donbas, as well as uniting the large energetic system of the Central, Volga, and Southern economic regions. The new dam also allowed for the Volga to become navigable, allowing for a path from Saratov to Astrakhan and the Caspian. In addition, there were projects for the irrigation of the excessive adjacent dry region of the left bank Volga south of it, particularly the West Kazakhstan Province. The power generated by the station is used primarily by the city of Volgograd, by Moscow, by Donbas via the only long distance HVDC-line in Russia, the HVDC Volgograd-Donbass. Ecology One of the most negative results that the dam caused was that it destroyed the traditional path of Caspian fish migration to their breeding grounds. The most affected became the beluga sturgeon, crucial to the Black Caviar industry. The fishery canal turned out to be inefficient, and from 1962 to 1967 the annual production rate was 15 percent of that before the dam. The other major effect of the dam is that it formed one of the largest reservoirs, which amounts for a behemoth volume 31.5 cubic kilometres of water and stretches 540 km long, and up to 17 km wide with a massive 3,117 square kilometre surface area. As a result, numerous settlements and fertile lands were lost. See also List of conventional hydroelectric power stations List of power stations in Russia HVDC Volgograd-Donbass References External links Volzhskaya GES official site Description of the station Google maps - Satellite shot centred on the station. Energy infrastructure completed in 1961 Dams in Russia Hydroelectric power stations built in the Soviet Union Hydroelectric power stations in Russia Converter stations Dams completed in 1961 Dams on the Volga River 1961 establishments in Russia