China Tests Quantum Technology in Power Grid

Insider Brief

• China is testing quantum sensing, secure communications and computing at the 220-kilovolt Houdian demonstration substation in Hefei to improve power-grid monitoring, security and analysis.
• The facility, commissioned in November 2024, has deployed 85 domestically developed quantum devices across 18 categories, including diamond-based sensors, quantum-dot sensors and quantum communications equipment.
• Several technologies demonstrated at Houdian have been deployed elsewhere in Anhui and are expanding to other regions, though independent evidence of their performance and commercial advantages remains limited.
• Photo shows the 220-kilovolt Houdian Quantum Application Demonstration Substation in Hefei, east China’s Anhui province. (People’s Daily Online)

China is testing quantum sensors, secure communications and computing in a working power substation, examining how the emerging technology could be applied to the country’s electrical grid.

The 220-kilovolt Houdian Quantum Application Demonstration Substation in Hefei, in eastern China’s Anhui province, has deployed 85 domestically developed quantum devices across 18 categories, according to a report by People’s Daily Online.

Commissioned in November 2024, the facility is China’s first demonstration substation designed for the systematic use of quantum technologies, the report said. The equipment spans quantum sensing, communications and computing, with applications ranging from detecting electrical faults to protecting data and analyzing the flow of electricity through the grid.