Utility Company Joins $6.6M Initiative Targeting Quantum Computing Energy

Utility company EDF, quantum computing companies Quandela and Alice & Bob and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) have launched a project to optimize energy consumption in quantum computing.  

The project, Energetic Optimization of Quantum Circuits (OECQ),  aims to benchmark the energy requirements of high-performance computing (HPC) against those of quantum computers. It will measure the energy consumption for computationally intensive industry use cases of a quantum computer. 

The second phase would focus on optimizing the energy consumption of quantum computers across the full stack including supporting technologies, not just the quantum processing units (QPUs).

EDF intends to supply industry use cases with a high computational power demand.

“EDF is committed to the promotion of a responsible and low-carbon digital transformation,” said EDF head of quantum computation Joseph Mikael.

“Since 2018, EDF has been involved in evaluating the benefits of quantum for our businesses. This technology brings key advantages both in terms of computational speed and energy optimization.”

Alice & Bob will test the energy needs of its cat qubit architecture and Qandela will do the same with its platform based on semiconductor qubits with integrated photonics. 

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The two quantum companies intend to estimate the energy consumption that a quantum algorithm would require for the selected use cases if solved using their current quantum systems and use that information to build and test new, more energy-efficient quantum processor prototypes. 

“One of the primary objectives of the OECQ project is to seize the opportunity to develop quantum computing technology in an energy-efficient manner from the outset,” said Théau Peronnin, CEO of Alice & Bob.

“As quantum computing is still in its nascent stages, this project will dimension the future energy infrastructures that will support mature quantum technology. Additionally, since energy consumption is a key cost driver in quantum tech, making these processes more efficient offers a significant competitive advantage.” 

The CNRS team has provided a methodology to tackle the energy costs of the full stack of a quantum computer and will compute the theoretical bounds for energy consumption during the project. 

The $6.6 million is supported by a “France 2030” grant of up to $4.9 issued on behalf of the French state by Bpifrance, France’s public investment bank.  

The project comes as experts warn that data center energy usage could surge six-fold in 10 years driven AI and the predicted growth of quantum computing.