Superconductor stability in the power system environment

Abstract Superconducting power apparatus must be extremely reliable if it is to be accepted for commercial use in power systems. Superconductors used in the system components, such as generators, transformers, inductors and transmission lines, must remain stable throughout power system load changes and faults. The analysis of the impact of these events is typified by that of the Westinghouse/EPRI 300 MVA superconducting generator. For this design, a worst case fault event is identified, the system response to that event is analysed and that response is examined for its impact on the stability of the apparatus and its superconductor. The conditions of fault tolerance and superconductor stability are major design drivers that strongly influence the cost and performance of the apparatus.