Iberdrola, one of the world’s largest clean energy companies, and Multiverse Computing, a global leader in value-based quantum computing solutions, have successfully delivered a pilot project in northern Spain to optimise the installation of grid-scale batteries, which will become increasingly important as the energy transition progresses. As electricity grids are integrating increasing amounts of renewable generation, electric vehicles, heat pumps and other distributed energy resources, battery storage is providing an increasingly important service to ensure grid stability. Multiverse’s solution uses quantum and quantum-inspired algorithms to select the optimal number, type and locations of batteries on the grid network. This reduces the costs of adding batteries to the grid and increases network performance.
i-DE, Iberdrola’s distribution company in Spain, oversaw the pilot project, which was focused on Guipuzkoa’s electricity grid (Basque Country, Spain). During the ten-month pilot, some quantum and quantum-inspired algorithms matched or outperformed classical benchmark to maximize grid reliability and voltage control.
The project was developed under the wings of Iberdrola’s Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub and part of the Gipuzkoa Quantum Program.
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Download free sample pages“With the power of quantum computing, private and public institutions can meet sustainability goals while saving on both fixed and variable costs,” said Enrique Lizaso Olmos, CEO of Multiverse Computing. “We are proud to support the development of more reliable and economical green energy in Spain alongside a world-leading clean energy provider like Iberdrola.”
Estibaliz Goñi, Process and Technology director of i-DE, also stated: “The results of this pilot project are encouraging, and we will continue exploring the deployment of this technology. There are many challenges to overcome to ensure we have the smart and robust grids required to deliver the energy transition, and innovations like this will help us get there.”
According to a recent report by the IEA, meeting climate goals will require adding or refurbishing 80 million kilometers (~50 million miles) of electricity grids by 2040 – the equivalent of the entire existing global grid. Also, another report by the same agency showed that the investment ratio between renewables and networks has been imbalanced for the past years and meanwhile in the past, the investment ratio between renewables and grids was 1$:0.4cts, to achieve climate goals, that ratio must be adjusted to reach 1:1, minimum.
The Project
To achieve the pilot’s goal, the 10-month project used a quantum annealer and classical hardware to test the optimization solution. This algorithm was tested in grids of different sizes, exploring this solution first on small-scale grids and then in larger ones, such as Gipuzkoa’s grid.
To address the need for more resilient and cost-effective electric grids, Multiverse Computing and Iberdrola implemented quantum and quantum-inspired solutions to achieve improvements in grid batteries across three key areas:
The project team used Singularity, Multiverse Computing’s platform for quantum and quantum-inspired software, to optimize the network. Quantum-inspired techniques use insights and mathematical models from quantum physics to develop better classical algorithms. The tool enables users without experience in quantum computing to utilize quantum optimizations to boost the speed and accuracy of solutions for complex problems in the energy sector and other industries.