China completes world's 1st large-scale demonstration at Hefei power substation
China finished an 18-month trial using quantum technology at a power substation in Hefei.
Kicked off in late 2024, the project aimed to keep the lights on more reliably and cut down on outages by using quantum technologies for measurement, communication, and computing.
It's actually the world's first large-scale demonstration of this kind of tech in a real power grid.
Quantum sensors improved accuracy, rollout planned
Quantum sensors at the station picked up tiny changes in electricity flow, temperature, and humidity, spotting problems way faster than old-school systems.
Diamond-based sensors also made energy tracking much more accurate, potentially reducing annual electricity measurement errors at the pilot substation by more than 500,000 kilowatt-hours.
On top of that, China's Origin Wukong quantum computer helped operators make quick decisions during peak demand while quantum encryption kept grid communications extra secure.
After this success, researchers want to roll out these upgrades to higher voltage substations and across more parts of the national grid.