With the increasing complexity of energy systems, the challenge of coordinating supply, demand and system constraints is no longer primarily technological, but computational and systemic.
High shares of renewables, sector coupling, storage, conversion technologies and cross-sector interactions lead to decision spaces that are highly dimensional, non-linear and interdependent.
The European research project REINFORCE explores quantum computing–based optimisation approaches for these complex system problems. From the perspective of the GEC Codex Partnership, REINFORCE is particularly relevant where such approaches are not treated as abstract future technologies, but are considered against real system contexts provided by Living Labs.
Living Labs at GEC: grounding computational approaches in reality
At the Green Energy Center Europe (GEC), Living Labs serve as systemic learning and implementation environments.
They connect research, digital and physical infrastructure, data, hardware and software, and real-world applications. Within this framework, several functional entities structure the work on energy system transformation:
- EWest – Power on Demand processes
- HyWest – Power to Hydrogen processes
- Quantum computing–based optimisation approaches
These entities are not isolated projects. They represent complementary system functions that together reflect the operational, economic and computational dimensions of the energy system. The GEC Codex Partnership provides the operational and economic framework that enables these entities to interact with real-world actors and implementation projects.
The logistics system as a shared system architecture
As in other GEC Living Lab contexts, the work related to REINFORCE is embedded in a logistics-based system understanding. This understanding distinguishes three tightly coupled subsystems:
- Resource (Supply)
– real availability of energy and resources - Demand
– real demand profiles across sectors and applications - Coverage of Demand
– conversion, storage, transport and temporal coordination
These subsystems are linked through three fundamental flows:
- Material flows (electricity, hydrogen, physical infrastructure)
- Value flows (costs, benefits, investment and market signals)
- Information flows (data, control, optimisation and decision support)
As system complexity increases, information flows and optimisation capabilities become critical for maintaining coherence across these subsystems.
Why quantum computing becomes relevant
Classical optimisation and AI methods already play an important role in energy system modelling and operation. However, they increasingly encounter limitations when dealing with:
- high-dimensional decision spaces
- non-linear system couplings
- multi-objective trade-offs (e.g. costs, CO₂, availability, grid constraints)
- combinatorial complexity across time, space and sectors
This is where quantum computing becomes relevant.
Research and development in this area — especially by European entities such as Alpine Quantum Technologies (AQT) — demonstrate that commercial quantum computing systems are becoming physically and energetically viable. Innovations allow quantum systems to operate in standard infrastructure formats and with significantly reduced power requirements compared to classical high-performance computing, while still addressing problems that are difficult for classical methods to solve efficiently.
Energy and efficiency aspects of quantum systems
Quantum computing’s relevance for energy systems goes beyond pure computational power: Many emerging quantum systems, including ion-trap architectures developed in Europe, are being designed to fit into standardised computing environments, draw moderate power (e.g., on the order of a few kilowatts), and reduce the energy footprint of complex calculations compared with classical high-performance computing approaches. (GEC Quantum Computing)
This operational characteristic aligns with systemic sustainability objectives in energy systems, where not just optimisation quality but overall resource efficiency matters — a dimension that becomes critical when modelling and coordinating large-scale, multi-sector energy systems.
REINFORCE within the GEC Living Lab context
From the GEC perspective, the value of REINFORCE does not lie solely in the development of new algorithms. Its relevance emerges when quantum computing approaches are confronted with real system structures. Living Labs provide:
- realistic supply and demand patterns
- concrete system constraints and boundary conditions
- real data streams and operational logics
- feedback from implementation and operation
Within this context, quantum computing is treated as a systemic resource, not as an isolated technology. It becomes part of the broader information flow that connects supply, demand and demand coverage.
Complementarity with FLEXI: information flow and optimisation
REINFORCE is closely related to projects such as FLEXI, which focus on AI-based information flows, flexibility activation and market design. While FLEXI primarily addresses:
- data-driven coordination
- flexibility markets and services
- governance and decision support
REINFORCE extends this perspective by investigating:
- deep optimisation of complex decision spaces
- computational limits of classical approaches
- new solution spaces enabled by quantum computing
Together, FLEXI and REINFORCE address different layers of the same systemic challenge: how increasingly complex energy systems can be coordinated in a robust, efficient and transparent way.
Added value for REINFORCE: reality as a reference frame
Embedding REINFORCE in the GEC Living Lab environment creates several advantages:
- optimisation problems are derived from real system configurations
- algorithmic performance can be assessed against practical relevance
- results remain connected to implementation pathways
- quantum computing is evaluated as part of a socio-technical system, not in isolation
This perspective supports a shift from technology-centric evaluation towards system-level learning.
Outlook
The integration of quantum computing, AI-based information flows, and real energy system entities such as EWest and HyWest illustrates how computational innovation can be meaningfully aligned with the transformation of energy systems. From the perspective of the GEC Codex Partnership, REINFORCE represents an important exploration space for understanding how advanced optimisation technologies can support decision-making in real-world energy systems. Together with projects like FLEXI, REINFORCE contributes to a coherent framework in which physical, digital and algorithmic entities are analysed and developed in an integrated manner. This framework also forms a foundation for further consolidation within a broader manuscript addressing the systemic transformation of energy systems.
Positioning within the GEC context
Further information on projects and Living Lab entities of the Green Energy Center Europe can be found at:
👉 https://green-energy-center.com/projects/
