MATHEMATICAL OPTIMIZATION OF SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETIC ENERGY STORAGE FOR WIND ENERGY SYSTEMS

Abstract

Wind variability coupled with conditional changes in the level of energy consumption has made the need for energy storage unavoidable in increasing wind energy penetration. The quest for an environmentally friendly device with fast dynamic response and nearly infinite cycling has resulted in superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) being proposed as a novel storage technology for wind energy systems. This paper builds on previous work in our lab that uses a magnesium diboirde SMES to address wind interruptions. Mathematical optimization was conducted to design large capacity toroid storage specifically to address sustained interruptions from wind turbines. The toroidal configuration consisting of 4 modules exhibited the highest normalized efficiency with least superconductor requirement