Alliander is committed to the development of high-quality new solutions in the areas of energy grids, energy technology and digitalisation. That’s why we carry out research in these areas, together with knowledge institutions and partners. We publish this in the form of open research, as we believe it is important that everyone has access to these research results.
An overview of our publications and open source code in the area of quantum technologies can be found on this page.
More of our previous publications can be found on Research Gate: click here
Artificial intelligence has now become part of our lives and scientific developments in this field are moving at a rapid pace. Alliander works together regularly with knowledge institutions. For example, we have set up the AI for energy grid Lab – part of the Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence (ICAI) – within which we have entered into a long-term partnership with Delft University of Technology, the University of Twente, Radboud University, HAN University of Applied Sciences and the Eindhoven University of Technology. Nine PhD students, under the guidance of internal AI experts at Alliander, are working on relevant research questions and use cases originating from Alliander. The results of this research open up all kinds of new possibilities for various chains and organisational units.
Research within robotics is focusing on the application of robotics to support physical work. This research can be divided up into ‘robotics for construction’, ‘robotics for maintenance’ and ‘robotics for safety’. Examples of ‘robotics for construction’ are automatic excavation machines, a cable stripper for medium-voltage cables or 3D scans of a building site. ‘Robotics for maintenance’ includes, for example, automatic substation inspections, gas-leak tracing and the automatic cleaning of an insulator – on a high-voltage pylon. Within the area of ‘robotics for safety’ the principle guiding our research is: “Every engineer has a robot for work on live installations and is therefore no longer exposed to risk”.
Quantum technologies are coming sooner than you think and will open up powerful new possibilities by making smart use of the physical laws that apply at the level of the tiniest particles. We are focusing on three main areas:
Quantum computers: These can speed up complex grid calculations, which is crucial for the energy transition. At the same time, they present a risk in terms of digital security, so good preparation is essential.
Quantum sensors: These can analyse assets in more detail and make field work more efficient.
Quantum communication: Transferring quantum information securely is important for scaling up quantum computers and possibly for our future communication network.
Quantum technologies could have a huge impact. The time has now come to explore them and prepare ourselves for the future.
Research within the field of ‘extended reality’ is currently being conducted in two areas: ‘supporting knowledge and expertise’ and ‘supporting administrative work’.
The central focus within this research area is ensuring that all the knowledge we need is available everywhere at all times. Research is being carried out on topics such as ‘remote assist and telementoring’, ‘training in augmented reality and virtual reality’, ‘underground and overground infrastructure in AR’ and ‘spatial anchors’.
Within this research area we are focusing on removing the need for manual inputs into computer systems. The topics we are researching include ‘sketching cables in the field’, ‘scanning open trenches’ and ‘image recognition’.
Would you like to find out more about Alliander and open research?