Moving towards an ultra-secure smart grid

Moving towards an ultra-secure smart grid

TECNALIA and Elewit, Redeia’s technology platform, have been exploring novel Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technologies, using photonics as a means of transmitting and processing critical information in electrical substations. This project is a crucial step towards the creation of an ultra-secure smart grid, where quantum security plays a key role.

QKD technology is proving to be a crucial solution for communications security, ensuring data integrity and confidentiality in smart grids. Taking advantage of existing substation infrastructures, TECNALIA and Elewit are addressing the challenges of implementing of this technology in industrial environments.

Although QKD technology has proven its viability both in physical environments, via fibres, and in open spaces for atmospheric or laser communication in space, it still faces challenges around the robustness of current systems, the agility of key generation, the format of the equipment and the limitation to point-to-point communication. These obstacles mean that the application of these technologies in real environments is limited, which is why the innovation and cutting-edge nature of this collaboration between TECNALIA and Elewit is so important.

This partnership is a milestone in the search for advanced solutions for smart grid security. The combination of TECNALIA’s experience in research and development and Elewit’s technology platform opens the doors to a future where quantum security will play a crucial role in the protection of our critical infrastructure.

Quantum technologies at TECNALIA

In the field of quantum technologies, TECNALIA is developing new solutions for computing, communications and detection which make use of matter manipulation to take advantage of the properties of quantum mechanics, and which will progressively create a new generation of infrastructures to operate society in the near future.