Quantum for Energy and Utilities 2026

CASE STUDY 11 Quantum communication Securing distribution-grid communications using photonic QKD over utility fibre to harden smart-grid control traffic Electric grid control systems manage generation, transmission and distribution of energy. They must provide secure communications of multiple energy devices over a single encrypted channel. DSO networks depend on machine-to-machine communications (e.g. SCADA/control messaging) and long-lived grid assets that must remain secure over multi-decade lifecycles, exactly the time horizon in which cryptographic assumptions can be disrupted by advances in computing. QKD addresses key exchange by using quantum-physics effects to detect interception and to generate/distribute secret keys, and utility “dark fibre” between substations is often a practical substrate for metro-scale QKD deployments.The EPB (electric power board) in Chattanooga, together with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and industry partner Qubitekk, now part of IonQ, ran a field pilot of entangled photons discrete-variable QKD on an isolated segment of EPB’s utility fibre network, including a dedicated 21-kilometre fibre test bed separate from operational infrastructure. The demonstration work is commonly framed as “QKD- secured” smart-grid fibre communications using trusted- node concepts and substation-to-substation fibre links. Key reported benefits included establishing a real-world utility-fibre test environment (the 21-kilometre EPB test bed) and demonstrating trusted-node QKD techniques intended to extend effective reach using realistic grid fibre infrastructure, with multiple QKD implementations used in the field context.16 Quantum for Energy and Utilities: Key Opportunities for Energy Transition 25