Lightweight MgB2 superconducting 10 MW wind generator

Special Issue in Focus on Superconducting Rotating MachinesThe offshore wind market demands a higher power rate and more reliable turbines in order to optimize capital and operational costs. The state-of-the-art shows that both geared and direct-drive conventional generators are difficult to scale up to 10 MW and beyond due to their huge size and weight. Superconducting direct-drive wind generators are considered a promising solution to achieve lighter weight machines. This work presents an innovative 10 MW 8.1 rpm direct-drive partial superconducting generator using MgB2 wire for the field coils. It has a warm iron rotor configuration with the superconducting coils working at 20 K while the rotor core and the armature are at ambient temperature. A cooling system based on cryocoolers installed in the rotor extracts the heat from the superconducting coils by conduction. The generator's main parameters are compared against a permanent magnet reference machine, showing a significant weight and size reduction. The 10 MW superconducting generator concept will be experimentally validated with a small-scale magnetic machine, which has innovative components such as superconducting coils, modular cryostats and cooling systems, and will have similar size and characteristics as the 10 MW generator.European Union Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement n° 308793