Comparison of SMES and SFCL for transient stability enhancement of wind generator system

Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) and superconducting fault current limiters (SFCL) can be used to stabilize the wind generator system. While both SMES and SFCL use superconducting coils for their operations, this paper makes a comparative study of these two devices in case of their applications in the wind generator system. The comparison is done on the basis of transient stability enhancement, controller complexity, and cost. In order to analyze the effect of the SMES and SFCL on wind generator stabilization in more detail, several performance indices are considered. Simulation results show that both the SMES and SFCL can stabilize the wind generator system during a severe fault. However, the performance of the SMES is better than that of the SFCL. Also, from the controller viewpoint, the SMES system is more complex than the SFCL system. Moreover, from the perspective of cost, the SMES might be costlier than the SFCL. As a whole, this study would help the readers understand the relative effectiveness of the SMES and SFCL methods, and then select a suitable method for wind generator stabilization.