Quantum for Energy and Utilities 2026

CASE STUDY 6 Quantum computing Optimizing EV smart charging by forecasting demand and scheduling charging to align with renewable energy The rapid growth of electric vehicle charging is adding a large, flexible load to power systems that are already coping with intermittent renewables. That makes two tasks harder at the same time: forecasting demand with enough fidelity to plan operations and optimizing charging schedules so consumption shifts towards lower carbon generation windows without violating grid constraints. EDF and Pasqal experimentally implemented an EV smart- charging use case on Pasqal’s neutral-atom platform, reporting an experimental realization that executed a quantum annealing-based schedule optimizer component on up to 100 qubits, therefore positioning the work as a hybrid quantum classical coupled forecasting-and-optimization challenge for future energy-system orchestration. Key reported benefits included successfully running the EV smart-charging scheduling use case on a physical neutral-atom system at the 100+ qubit level, and providing a documented, reproducible reference implementation through the joint EDF-Pasqal publication, with the additional practical advantage that the supporting hardware is now part of an inaugurated HPC-quantum hybrid infrastructure intended to enable scaling-up and broader experimentation within the French Atomic Agency. The public reporting frames this as an R&D proof of concept milestone.10 18 Quantum for Energy and Utilities: Key Opportunities for Energy Transition