E.On is Working with IBM to Find Quantum Solutions for Energy Grid Optimization

As we've seen recently with hurricane Ida in Louisiana, it is becoming increasingly important to optimize the performance and reliability of our energy grids. And with the increasing use of solar panels and electric cars, the energy grid is becoming more decentralized making it more of a challenge to find the best strategy to control the flow of energy in the grids. For example, energy can flow from the grid to an electric car for charging batteries, but when the car is not in use, it is also possible to flow energy from the car's battery back to the grid to help out in periods of high electrical demand. Figuring out the best way to control all this is a computationally complex problem which is getting beyond the capabilities of traditional classical computing solutions, but can be very suitable for optimization using quantum computing.

E.On is one of the world's largest investor-owned electric utility service providers serving over 33 million customers in 30 different countries and employing over 78,000 people. They will be working with IBM's Quantum Technical Services team and utilize the IBM quantum cloud, Qiskit, and other resources to study this problem and work to develop quantum enabled solutions for this important problem. For more about this work, you can view a press release provided by E.On and located on their website here.

September 4, 2021