The problems of magnetic braking and the occurrence of energy losses in non-contact bearings based on high-temperature superconducting tapes are considered. Model bearing configurations are considered in which the superconducting tape is a stator and the rotor is a set of permanent magnets. It is shown that magnetic friction can be neglected in the case when the number of permanent magnets in the rotor is more than eight. This result indicates the possibility of creating scaled magnetic bearings for long-term energy storage systems, for example, kinetic drives.