2024A-GS18-1 Possible applications of quantum computing in the field of ocean engineering

－Optimization of the layouts of offshore wind turbines and wave energy converters with Ising model－

Abstract

As possible applications of quantum computing, attempts are made to identify the optimum layout of an offshore wind farm and that of a wave energy converter (WEC) farm with the quantum annealing method. Optimum layouts in the present study are those in which the absorbed energy from wind or waves is maximized. In applying the quantum annealing method, how to compose objective functions as polynomials with respect to binary variables, that is, as the Ising model, is proposed. Aerodynamic interactions among wind turbines or hydrodynamic interactions among WECs are accounted for in optimizing the layouts. Through example calculations and comparisons with some available exact solutions, it is confirmed that the present method really works in identifying the optimum layouts. The results suggest that the absorbed energy from WECs can be enhanced significantly by optimizing their layouts. It is also confirmed that the optimum layouts of a large farm composed of more than hundred wind turbines or WECs can be identified with reasonable CPU time.