Cost savings and prospects for applications of micro superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) using high temperature superconductors

Recently, interest in superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) systems of approximately 1-MJ storage capacity has grown among potential industry and utility users. A large fraction of the cost is in the refrigeration system which is required to maintain a superconducting coil. The objective of the project described was to determine possible cost savings from the use of high-temperature superconductors (HTSs). An additional goal was to identify development needs for HS materials to be useful in small SMES systems. The approach to this assessment was to build a computer model with assumed HTS conductor properties to establish coil configurations for a small SMES (1-MJ/1-MW) system. A second computer model was developed to estimate refrigeration requirements. A third model was used to estimate and sum component costs. A conventional low-temperature superconductor (LTS) system was also modeled for comparison.<>