Quantum computing for power grid analysis and simulation
Problem
Rapid economic growth, energy transition, and digitalisation in the Netherlands have led to increased electricity consumption. New offices, factories, residential areas, data centres, electric vehicles, and heat pumps demand more energy. Alliander seeks ways to improve the performance of their grid analysis and simulations, as traditional methods are no longer sufficient. Key tasks include performing power flow analysis and state estimation, which are computationally intensive.
Solution
Alliander uses quantum computing to accelerate their calculations. A crucial part is reordering matrices to improve the efficiency of calculations. This is done using a quantum algorithm that solves problems through Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimisation (QUBO). This approach has been tested on several practical datasets and has shown promising results.
Benefit
Accelerating these calculations helps quickly identify weak points in the grid and predict future energy needs. This is crucial for ensuring grid stability, maintenance, upgrades, and preventing outages, thereby guaranteeing a reliable and efficient electricity supply.
This work is supported by the Dutch National Growth Fund (NGF) as part of the Quantum Delta NL programme.
