Quantum Communication Networks for Energy Applications: Review and Perspective
Hari P. Paudel, Scott E. Crawford, Yueh‐Lin Lee, Roman Shugayev, Michael Niklaus Leuenberger, Madhava Syamlal, Paul Richard Ohodnicki, Ping Lu, Darren Mollot, Yuhua Duan
Abstract The energy sector is expected to undergo significant changes in the coming decades with the advent of new technologies, including smart grid development, microgrid expansion, increasing electric vehicle and renewable energy usage, and enhanced measures to minimize greenhouse gas emission, among others. In tandem, these changes are expected to create new opportunities for the deployment of quantum technologies within the energy sector. Building on the authors' previous reviews on the current state of and future opportunities for quantum sensing, quantum computing and quantum simulations for energy sector applications, this work provides an overview of recent progress in quantum networking and communications for the energy industry, with a focus on platforms, devices, and protocols, including quantum teleportation and quantum key distribution. Specific areas of relevance to the energy sector are then analyzed, including the role of quantum networks for greenhouse gas monitoring, secure data collection and transmission in smart grids, nuclear power plants’ safety, facilitating oil and gas exploration, and other energy‐relevant applications. This review concludes with a brief overview of areas for future innovation, including the need for platforms for simulating quantum networks, quantum material and platform design, and computational approaches to accelerate quantum protocol discovery and development.
Abstract The energy sector is expected to undergo significant changes in the coming decades with the advent of new technologies, including smart grid development, microgrid expansion, increasing electric vehicle and renewable energy usage, and enhanced measures to minimize greenhouse gas emission, among others. In tandem, these changes are expected to create new opportunities for the deployment of quantum technologies within the energy sector. Building on the authors' previous reviews on the current state of and future opportunities for quantum sensing, quantum computing and quantum simulations for energy sector applications, this work provides an overview of recent progress in quantum networking and communications for the energy industry, with a focus on platforms, devices, and protocols, including quantum teleportation and quantum key distribution. Specific areas of relevance to the energy sector are then analyzed, including the role of quantum networks for greenhouse gas monitoring, secure data collection and transmission in smart grids, nuclear power plants’ safety, facilitating oil and gas exploration, and other energy‐relevant applications. This review concludes with a brief overview of areas for future innovation, including the need for platforms for simulating quantum networks, quantum material and platform design, and computational approaches to accelerate quantum protocol discovery and development.
Abstract On its revolutionary threshold, quantum sensing is creating potentially transformative opportunities to exploit intricate quantum mechanical phenomena in new ways to make ultrasensitive measurements of multiple parameters. Concurrently, growing interest in quantum sensing has created opportunities for its deployment to improve processes pertaining to energy production, distribution, and consumption. Safe and secure utilization of energy is dependent upon addressing challenges related to material stability and function, secure monitoring of infrastructure, and accuracy in detection and measurement. A summary of well‐established and emerging quantum sensing materials and techniques, as well as the corresponding sensing platforms that have been developed for their deployment is provided here. Specifically, the enhancement of existing advanced sensing technologies with quantum methods and materials is focused on, enabling the realization of an unprecedented level of sensitivity, placing an emphasis on relevance to the energy industry. The review concludes with a discussion on high‐value applications of quantum sensing to the energy sector, as well as remaining barriers to sensor deployment.
Quantum computing and simulations are creating transformative opportunities by exploiting the principles of quantum mechanics in new ways to generate and process information. It is expected that a variety of areas ranging from day-to-day activities to making advanced scientific discoveries are going to benefit from such computations. Several early-stage applications of quantum computing and simulation have already been demonstrated, and these preliminary results show that quantum computing and simulations could significantly accelerate the deployment of new technologies urgently needed to meet the growing demand for energy while safeguarding the environment. Exciting examples include developing new materials such as alloys, catalysts, oxygen carriers, CO2 sorbents/solvents, and energy storage materials; optimizing traffic flows and energy supply chains; locating energy generation facilities such as wind and solar farms, and fossil and nuclear power plants; designing pipeline networks for transporting hydrogen, natural gas, and CO2; and speeding up tasks such as seismic imaging and inversion, reservoir simulation, and computational fluid dynamics. In this review, we introduce different aspects of quantum computing and simulations and discuss the status of theoretical and experimental approaches. We then specifically highlight growing number of application areas in the energy sector. We conclude by providing an analysis of high-value application directions to address energy sector challenges.
Quantum networks are a rapidly evolving technology that utilizes the principles of quantum mechanics to facilitate secure communication, distributed quantum computing, and highly sensitive sensor networks. Quantum networks are constructed using diverse components, such as quantum information sources, quantum memories, quantum repeaters, and quantum detectors. These networks leverage the distinctive features of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and entanglement, to attain superior performance benefits. Despite the numerous challenges that impede the development of quantum networks, such as the requirement for more efficient and dependable components, considerable advancements have been achieved in recent years through the utilization of simulations and experimental platforms. With the growing need for enhanced security and faster computing, the potential for quantum networks appears promising in the future. The potential of these innovations to revolutionize various fields and facilitate novel breakthroughs and discoveries is noteworthy. In this paper, we review the current state of the art in quantum networks, including key concepts and technologies such as quantum key distribution, quantum repeaters, and quantum routing. We also discuss some of the key challenges in quantum networks, including scalability, noise, and interoperability, and highlight some of the key research directions in this field. Finally, we discuss some of the potential applications of quantum networks, including secure communication, quantum computing, and quantum sensing. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current status and future directions of quantum networks and will be of interest to researchers, engineers, and policymakers working in this field.
Quantum networks are a rapidly evolving technology that utilizes the principles of quantum mechanics to facilitate secure communication, distributed quantum computing, and highly sensitive sensor networks. Quantum networks are constructed using diverse components, such as quantum information sources, quantum memories, quantum repeaters, and quantum detectors. These networks leverage the distinctive features of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and entanglement, to attain superior performance benefits. Despite the numerous challenges that impede the development of quantum networks, such as the requirement for more efficient and dependable components, considerable advancements have been achieved in recent years through the utilization of simulations and experimental platforms. With the growing need for enhanced security and faster computing, the potential for quantum networks appears promising in the future. The potential of these innovations to revolutionize various fields and facilitate novel breakthroughs and discoveries is noteworthy. In this paper, we review the current state of the art in quantum networks, including key concepts and technologies such as quantum key distribution, quantum repeaters, and quantum routing. We also discuss some of the key challenges in quantum networks, including scalability, noise, and interoperability, and highlight some of the key research directions in this field. Finally, we discuss some of the potential applications of quantum networks, including secure communication, quantum computing, and quantum sensing. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current status and future directions of quantum networks and will be of interest to researchers, engineers, and policymakers working in this field.
Abstract Over the past four decades, quantum communication has evolved as a dynamic interdisciplinary field, advancing theoretical concepts and practical implementations. This article provides a concise overview focusing on recent progress in different aspects of secure quantum communication and quantum computation protocols, which can be applied to several real-world applications in quantum networks. These protocols guarantee unconditional security while enhancing communication rates and computation capabilities by harnessing quantum advantages. We also explore the role of non-terrestrial networks in quantum applications, with a focus on quantum technologies such as quantum key distribution and beyond, suitable for satellite-based applications. These technologies can contribute to future extensions of the quantum internet across intercontinental territories, connecting complex quantum network applications. Further, we delve into discussing the integration of quantum communication into 6G technology. The key innovation of this article lies in integrating quantum communication into 6G networks through a novel system-level simulation framework. 6G-enabled quantum networks are expected to meet the high demands on ubiquitous coverage, data rate, latency, and energy consumption. To address these issues, we design and evaluate four traffic demand scenarios using numerical simulation, illustrating how superdense coding doubles the data transmission rate and fulfills the high traffic demands on data rate, while under low traffic demand, entanglement resources can be reserved for future applications. Specifically, our investigation demonstrates how resource utilization adapts to different traffic demands, with adjustments based on available resources and practical constraints, evaluated over an ideal noise-free communication channel. The proof-of-work simulation is implemented using Python and is based on the system model we designed for varying traffic demands to pave the way for efficient quantum networks and gain deeper insights into their feasibility with available resources.
The rapid proliferation of grid-edge distributed energy resources has significantly increased the operational complexity of modern power systems. Consequently, conventional computational techniques face growing scalability and computational-efficiency challenges in addressing large-scale optimization and control, uncertainty management, nonlinear dynamics, and combinatorial decision-making in smart grid operations. Quantum computing has therefore emerged as a promising computational paradigm that can complement classical methods in addressing selected computationally intensive problems. In this context, this paper presents a comprehensive structured review of quantum computing applications in smart grid operations. Following a transparent keyword-based literature search, the paper classifies and assesses existing studies across monitoring and estimation, system planning, operation and control, security, reliability and resilience, stability assessment, data-driven intelligence, and digital twin technologies. The paper also describes fundamental quantum-computing concepts and key algorithms, highlighting their relevance for power system applications. Furthermore, it reviews the current state of quantum hardware, software frameworks, simulators, cloud services, and emerging hardware-agnostic ecosystems that support cross-platform application development and deployment. The reviewed studies are examined by implementation environment, benchmarking practices, application scale, and evidence of computational advantage. Finally, the principal challenges associated with practical implementation are discussed, and future research directions are outlined. This paper provides a consolidated and evidence-calibrated perspective on the current state and future potential of quantum computing for next-generation smart grid operations.