Quantum Communication Networks for Energy Applications: Review and Perspective

The energy sector is expected to undergo significant changes in the coming decades with the advent of new technologies, including smart grid development, microgrid expansion, increasing electric vehicle and renewable energy usage, and enhanced measures to minimize greenhouse gas emission, among others. In tandem, these changes are expected to create new opportunities for the deployment of quantum technologies within the energy sector. Building on the authors' previous reviews on the current state of and future opportunities for quantum sensing, quantum computing and quantum simulations for energy sector applications, this work provides an overview of recent progress in quantum networking and communications for the energy industry, with a focus on platforms, devices, and protocols, including quantum teleportation and quantum key distribution. Specific areas of relevance to the energy sector are then analyzed, including the role of quantum networks for greenhouse gas monitoring, secure data collection and transmission in smart grids, nuclear power plants' safety, facilitating oil and gas exploration, and other energy-relevant applications. This review concludes with a brief overview of areas for future innovation, including the need for platforms for simulating quantum networks, quantum material and platform design, and computational approaches to accelerate quantum protocol discovery and development. Quantum networking and communication technologies are already breaking new ground in cybersecurity applications and promise to benefit from a rapidly evolving global energy sector that is becoming increasingly reliant upon secure information collection and transmission. This review provides both a fundamental overview of quantum networking and communication and emphasizes the application areas that are specific to the energy sector. image