Control Aspects of the Tacoma Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage Project

On February 16, 1983, a 10 MW/30 MJ superconducting magnetic energy storage unit was energized at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) substation in Tacoma, Washington. The unit was retired a year later, after extensive tests directed toward its experimental use as a small-signal stabilizer for the Pacific AC Intertie. This paper addresses the control aspects of the project. These include the response characteristics of the unit, a-priori modeling of power system response, tradeoffs in control-law design, measured power system dynamics, and projection of unit effectiveness as a stabilizer.