EPB Quantum Expands Platform With ORNL, NVIDIA, And IonQ
EPB Quantum Projects Hybrid Computing to Improve Power System
EPB Quantum's quantum development platform has expanded with hybrid computing capabilities from ORNL, NVIDIA, and IonQ. The Quantum World Congress declaration is a huge step towards making Chattanooga a quantum technology and advanced computing powerhouse.
The program will deploy an NVIDIA DGX computer at the EPB Quantum Centre, home to America's first commercial quantum network. This new technology will work with IonQ's Forte Enterprise Quantum Computer, anticipated to launch in early 2026. EPB Quantum aims to create a national resource for developing practical quantum applications by merging cutting-edge quantum technology and classical supercomputing.
Grid Modernization's New Frontier
The first initiative to harness hybrid resources will optimise the American electrical grid. EPB, ORNL, NVIDIA, and IonQ will study quantum-classical solutions to increase electrical distribution network reliability, efficiency, and capacity.
EPB's advanced automated energy grid will provide trillions of operational data points for the project. Since 2009, thousands of sensors over 15,000 km of fibre optic cable have collected data for this smart grid. The IonQ quantum computer and NVIDIA DGX system will allow ORNL researchers to analyse this massive dataset in new ways. Reducing electrical losses, voltage drops, and load balancing improves system capacity and dependability.
A major purpose of the effort is to develop methods, algorithms, and best practices for US energy systems. EPB’s 600-square-mile service territory in southeast Tennessee is a real-world test bed for national-scale technology.
Continuing Collaboration
With this project, EPB and national laboratories continue their productive partnership. EPB has worked with ORNL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Qubitekk on the “QED: Quantum Ensured Defence of the Smart Electric Grid” project since 2016. This groundbreaking 2021 R&D 100 Award-winning project protected power grid signals with quantum networking. The QED project launched the EPB Quantum Network, the country's first commercial quantum network, and IonQ purchased Qubitekk.
EPB and ORNL have shown how world-class research and real-world energy infrastructure can expedite innovation, said ORNL director Stephen Streiffer. It builds on that success to promote the nation's energy future.
Promotion of Hybrid Supercomputing
The cooperating organisations' leaders stressed the project's relevance in applying quantum research. According to EPB CEO David Wade, “By making a comprehensive suite of quantum development resources accessible as a real-world platform for innovation, it makes it possible for entrepreneurs, industry leaders, national labs, and universities to work side by side towards breakthroughs
Partnership shows growing consensus that hybrid systems will solve complex problems. Niccolo de Masi, IonQ's chairman and CEO, said the company's mission is to produce 'practical applications with genuine economic value' by combining quantum technology with infrastructure and national and industrial lab knowledge.
Classical and quantum computing must be combined, as NVIDIA shows. Due to its data-intensive and machine learning capabilities, the hybrid model relies on the DGX system. NVIDIA Group Product Manager for quantum computing Sam Stanwyck predicts that hybrid supercomputing systems would use quantum and classical hardware for scientific computing. He said this project is “helping to build it” rather than just showing the future.
The EPB Quantum Centre is creating an unprecedented concentration of creativity-promoting resources by integrating high-performance classical computing, quantum networking, and quantum hardware. As a model for employing quantum technology to solve real-world problems, the energy business and scientific community will closely examine the findings.
