Design and performance of a 1 MW-5 s high temperature superconductor magnetic energy storage system

The feasibility of a 1 MW-5 s superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) system based on state-of-the-art high-temperature superconductor (HTS) materials is investigated in detail. Both YBCO coated conductors and MgB2 are considered. A procedure for the electromagnetic design of the coil is introduced and the final layout is arrived at and compared for the two materials. The choice of the inductance of the coil is carried out as part of the design procedure. Both low-field (3 T) and high-field (8 T) designs are considered for the YBCO. AC losses during a complete charge/discharge cycle at full power are estimated and the cooling power needed for continuous operation is derived. The power conditioning system and control algorithms needed to carry out various operations are discussed in detail. Performances of the SMES system during voltage sag compensation, load leveling and power factor correction are investigated by means of numerical simulation.