Quantum innovations for energy

Italian oil company Eni and France’s EDF are experimenting with new breakthroughs in quantum computing.

Eni is working with French quantum processing specialists Pasqal to create next-gen applications that could work across fossil fuels and renewables as well as both downstream and upstream in the value chain.

Eni, which runs one of the world’s most powerful privately-owned supercomputers at its Green Data Centre, hopes to use Pasqal’s algorithms to accelerate its research and capabilities in renewables, magnetic fusion, and other areas. The oil major has considerable expertise in solar and wave power as well as developing solutions for carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and other advanced biofuels.

“Our high performance computing system is a vital tool to explore the energy of the future. Pasqal’s quantum computers will allow us to complement our conventional high performance computing workflows in areas such as optimisation and machine learning and accelerate our research to create new solutions to the most pressing issues in the energy industry,” said Dario Pagani, Head of Digital & High Performance Computing at Eni.

Meanwhile in France, EDF is collaborating with Quandela, another French quantum startup, to use photonic computing on hydroelectric dams. The technology is hoped to boost the accuracy, speed and energy efficiency of numerical simulations of dam deformation, and eventually to have uses in other industrial applications, machine learning, and particularly consumption forecasting.

An early investor in quantum technologies back in 2018, EDF has had an interest in simulation for 40 years, said Director of Information Systems and Technologies Stéphane Tanguy. “The calculations and equations developed are the result of decades of research and effort. Quandela’s know-how, complementary to ours, allows us to form a rich and solid partnership to continue to advance on these subjects.”