SMALL SMES TECHNOLOGY AND COST REDUCTION ESTIMATES

Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) has been under developm ent for electric system applications for some time. Large units (great er-than-or-equal-to 10 MWh) have been designed for electric load manag ement. Small systems (<10 MW) have been designed for power quality enh ancements. Small systems, in particular, can provide momentary carryov er on a distribution network, thus avoiding outages in customers' elec tric supply. The price of today's small units is relatively expensive. The objective of this study was to evaluate possible cost reductions of small SMES devices to determine long-term feasibility for use in ut ility's systems.