Increasing the Feasibility of Superconducting Generators for 10 MW Direct-Drive Wind Turbines

Abstract

In recent years, superconducting synchronous generators (SCSGs) have been proposed as an alternative to permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSGs). They are expected to reduce the top head mass and the nacelle size for such large wind turbines. In 2012, the INNWIND.EU project initiated this research to investigate SCSGs for 10-20MWdirect-drive offshore wind turbines. However, the feasibility of SCSGs was limited by a few critical issues, such as high costs, AC losses in the superconducting winding and excessive short circuit torque. Furthermore, SCSG designs proposed in the literature were various but all less competitive than PMSGs.