QUEST is an industry-university consortium to engineer “smarter smart grids” empowered by quantum computing technology. It was founded by a group of idealists, scientists, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders with a common vision to engineer a 21st century power grid for a 21st century society. To achieve that goal, QUEST was formed in January of 2021 at the University of Denver, a leading research institution in the Rocky Mountain region.

Power Sector Applications
The forces driving the “grid of the future” such as decentralization, decarbonization, and digitalization all present large-scale power system problems requiring heavy computational resources. Quantum computing is a ground-breaking technology in information processing that can support global efforts in addressing these power system challenges.
Problem domains within the utility industry addressed by quantum computing include
- Increased levels of customer participation
- Opportunities in distributed energy resource integration and utilization
- Optimal system scheduling
- Contingency analysis
- Power quality and reliability improvement
- Forecasting
- Asset management and system efficiency
- Demand-side management
- Electric vehicle studies
- Smart distribution
- Cybersecurity
Recent Publications
ComEd Embraces Quantum Computing to Navigate Power Grid Disruption. Online Article
R. Eskandarpour, L. Zhang, A. Khodaei, E. Paaso, “How Quantum AI Can Transform Grid Disaster Resilience and Preparedness,” T&D World, Jun. 2020.
A. Khodaei, “How quantum computing is poised to support sustainable power grids,” GreenBiz, Sep. 2020.