Quantum computing for the N-1 problem
Problem
Alliander is expanding the capacity of their network over the next 10 years by an amount comparable to the past 100 years. New technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles add extra complexity to the electricity network. Together with QAL, Alliander is exploring the feasibility of quantum computing for optimising the robustness of energy networks in the event of cable failures, known as the 'N-1 problem'.
Solution
Three quantum computing solutions were investigated: amplitude amplification, quantum annealing, and Gaussian Boson Samplers. These methods utilise quantum parallelism and adiabatic evolution to efficiently monitor network reconfigurations and connectivity after cable failures.
Benefit
Tests showed that quantum computing has the potential to verify the robustness of large systems, which is unmanageable with current classical computers.
This work is supported by the Dutch National Growth Fund (NGF) as part of the Quantum Delta NL programme.
