Design of a high temperature superconductor magnetic energy storage systems

The University of Wollongong (UoW) has received funding for the research and development of a 20 kJ high temperature superconducting magnetic energy storage device (HTS SMES). This SMES will be operated at 25 K in contrast to most existing HTS designs, which operate at 77K. This paper includes a literature review of the current technology for the configuration of the SMES coil and a summary of the work done at UoW to date. Solenoidal and toroidal coils designs are compared to determine which will provide the required level of energy stored for a minimum superconductor and device volume. The design for the proposed SMES is evaluated with respect to UoW’s requirements.