EDF wants to simulate the resistance of its dams using quantum calculation


As an energy crisis threatens, EDF wants to believe in quantum. The group has decided to invest in a new use case around the simulation of hydroelectric dams, drawing on the resources of the start-up Quandela, which specializes in quantum photonics.

Quantum simulation makes it possible to study, in particular, the aging of materials in electrical production structures, and to generally improve the safety of the fleet.

EDF sees in this collaboration with Quandela the opportunity “to increase the level of simulations”. In the longer term, EDF’s stated objective is to “generalize simulation models” to extend them to other industrial applications, according to a press release.

Four years of R&D in quantum

This is not EDF’s first foray into this breakthrough technology. The group conducts research work with laboratories and industrialists on several themes, such as optimization, cryptography and quantum communications. EDF R&D contributes, in particular, to the European project PASQaunS which aims to develop a quantum simulator based on ultracold atoms and ions.

Both partners will look for missing skills in the other. “This partnership allows us to apply the know-how of our engineers to industrial issues. EDF and Quandela are perfectly complementary. We put our expertise in solving differential equations and developing algorithms as well as our first photonic quantum computers ” full-stack” available to EDF. In return, we benefit from the knowledge and expertise acquired by EDF’s R&D teams over decades,” said ValĂ©rian Giesz, co-founder and CEO of Quandela.

Whenela wants to develop a complete optical quantum computer. The start-up, founded in 2017, has around forty doctors and engineers in algorithms, semiconductors, quantum optics, quantum information and computer science. In 2022, Quandela released its Perceval photonic computer programming and simulation software.





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