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Quantum Computing Opportunities in Renewable Energy

DOI:10.1007/s42979-021-00786-3
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Annarita Giani
Annarita Giani
Annarita Giani
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Zachary Eldredge
Zachary Eldredge
Zachary Eldredge
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Abstract and Figures

Quantum computing is a new field of computing that relies on the laws of quantum mechanics to perform types of information processing that are not possible on traditional (”classical”) computers. As a result, quantum computers are capable of using problem-solving approaches which are not available to classical computers. Thus far, most research in quantum computing has taken place in physics and theoretical computer science, leaving a disconnect between these researchers and practical problems/applications. There is a need to identify good near-term problems to demonstrate quantum computing’s problem-solving potential. One possible area of contribution is in renewable energy. Adoption and scale-up of renewable resources in the next several decades will introduce many new challenges to the electrical grid due to the need to control many more distributed resources and to account for the variability of weather-dependent generation flows. We identify a few places where quantum computing is most likely to contribute to renewable energy problems: in simulation, in scheduling and dispatch, and in reliability analyses. The problems have the common theme that there are potential future issues concerning scalability of current approaches that quantum computing may address. We then recommend potentially fruitful areas of crossover research to advance applications of quantum computing and renewable energy.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
SN Computer Science (2021) 2:393
https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-021-00786-3
SN Computer Science
SURVEY ARTICLE
Quantum Computing Opportunities inRenewable Energy
AnnaritaGiani1· ZacharyEldredge2
Received: 20 April 2021 / Accepted: 18 July 2021 / Published online: 28 July 2021
This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply 2021
Abstract
Quantum computing is a new field of computing that relies on the laws of quantum mechanics to perform types of infor-
mation processing that are not possible on traditional (”classical”) computers. As a result, quantum computers are capable
of using problem-solving approaches which are not available to classical computers. Thus far, most research in quantum
computing has taken place in physics and theoretical computer science, leaving a disconnect between these researchers and
practical problems/applications. There is a need to identify good near-term problems to demonstrate quantum computing’s
problem-solving potential. One possible area of contribution is in renewable energy. Adoption and scale-up of renewable
resources in the next several decades will introduce many new challenges to the electrical grid due to the need to control
many more distributed resources and to account for the variability of weather-dependent generation flows. We identify a few
places where quantum computing is most likely to contribute to renewable energy problems: in simulation, in scheduling and
dispatch, and in reliability analyses. The problems have the common theme that there are potential future issues concerning
scalability of current approaches that quantum computing may address. We then recommend potentially fruitful areas of
crossover research to advance applications of quantum computing and renewable energy.
Keywords Quantum computing· Renewable energy
Introduction
Quantum computing has become an increasingly active field
scientifically and commercially in the last few years. Quan-
tum computing is a new field of computing that relies on the
laws of quantum mechanics to perform types of information
processing that are not possible on traditional (”classical”)
computers. These computers rely on new types of hardware,
such as superconducting devices, trapped ions, and photon-
ics. As a result, quantum computers are capable of using
problem-solving approaches which are not available to clas-
sical computers. The most interesting quantum approaches
are those which allow larger problems to be solved without
dramatically increasing the time required for computation.
This can be used to either greatly speed up the solution of
problems of a fixed size, or to solve larger problems in the
same fixed amount of available time [1].
Companies like IBM, Google, Rigetti, and D-Wave have
made great strides in the production of quantum hardware.
However, fully error-corrected quantum computers that can
behave like the theoretical constructs that originally attracted
the attention of scientists and engineers are likely still years
away. Additionally, a generic computational problem may
not be sped up at all by quantum computing; for instance,
a quantum computer is known not to be any faster than a
classical one at adding two numbers together. Both of these
considerations make it pivotal that effort be invested in find-
ing promising applications for quantum computing. These
applications should have valuable solutions (societally or
financially), should be difficult to solve with existing classi-
cal hardware, and possess structure that suggests a quantum
approach may prove fruitful. Especially useful are prob-
lems that might be addressed by noisy, intermediate-scale
quantum (NISQ) devices; these are the types of devices that
are likely to be accessible within the next decade [2]. In
addition, thus far most research in quantum computing has
This article is part of the topical collection “Quantum Computing:
Circuits Systems Automation and Applications” guest-edited by
Himanshu Thapliyal and Travis S. Humble.
* Zachary Eldredge
zachary.eldredge@ee.doe.gov
1 GE Research, General Electric Company, NewYork, USA
2 Department ofEnergy, Solar Energy Technologies Office,
Office ofEnergy Efficiency andRenewable Energy,
Washington,DC, USA
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... Therefore, this is high time to understand the current research directions of QC for power system applications and to pave the way toward quantum-aided decarbonized smart grids. Although a little research has been conducted in that regard [8][9][10], they are mainly focused on identifying the potential smart grid applications with QC and associated quantum algorithms rather than summarizing the recent research outcomes. Being motivated by the discussions above, this paper outlines the current research progress in smart grids that already have employed QC techniques, identify potential applications, and highlights suggestions for implementing QC for power and energy system applications. ...
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