Analysis and performance comparison of different power conditioning systems for SMES-based energy systems in wind turbines

The suitability of Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES)-based energy systems has been widely tested in the field of wind energy, being able to supply power in cases such as low wind speeds or voltage dips and store energy when there are surpluses. The aim of this paper is to analyze, improve and compare the performance of two SMES-based systems that differ in the type of power converter they use. These are a Voltage Source Converter (VSC) and a Current Source Converter (CSC). Their characteristics, control system and losses are analyzed and compared in order to improve load-leveling. In order to obtain the higher reliability and accuracy possible, a co-simulation between MATLAB/Simulink^® (running the control system) and PSIM^® (running the power system with commercial IGBTs and diodes) has been executed. Simulation results are shown under normal operating conditions.