Helium requirements for a superconducting power network

A review of the helium requirements for future superconductive energy technologies is presented. The first section of the paper includes a survey of commercial sized units of five energy related devices: superconductive magnetic energy storage, magnetically confined fusion reactors, superconducting power transmission lines, magnetohydrodynamic units, and superconducting ac generators. Results of the survey are discussed in terms of requirements for typical size units on a per unit power basis. Estimates are based on published system studies and private information provided by various workers in the field. In the second section, the helium inventories for several superconducting power networks are presented. Assuming typical size units, the helium required to supply a megawatt of power to a load is estimated. The results indicate that large helium quantities are needed for all phases of superconductive energy generation, storage and transmission.