Commercial application experiences with SMES

A superconducting magnetic energy storage system, configured as a voltage dip protector was installed at a paper mill in South Africa in April 1997. Since the commissioning of the protection system, the paper machine has not experienced a single shutdown caused by voltage depressions from the feeding grid. The power quality situation and cause of voltage disturbances at the installation site are reviewed, and the functionality of the dip protector described. An example is given of the performance results obtained so far.