Optimizing the energy grid may be one of quantum computing’s first promising applications. That’s the takeaway from this DLD Munich 2026 exchange between Victoria Ossadnik (E.ON) and Heike Riel, Lead of IBM Research Quantum Europe in Zurich, moderated by journalist John Thornhill (Financial Times).
Riel emphasizes that the industry is currently at the threshold of demonstrating “true quantum advantage, where you can calculate a problem more accurately or faster or also at less energy” than with traditional systems.
IBM aims to demonstrate this advantage for specific problems this year, she adds, and aims to reach a major milestone in 2029: the debut of “the first fault-tolerant quantum computer with 200 logical qubits.”
For energy giants like E.ON, the practical application of these machines promises massive infrastructural benefits. Ossadnik points out that shifting from centralized power to an intelligent energy grid will include challenges such as predicting electric vehicle charging patterns.
“What if I can save 10% of grid capacity because I use a quantum computer?”, she asks rhetorically. “That’s a big impact which is visible for everybody, not just for a very small society.”
Watch the video explore this session in detail.
