The European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has launched a call for tender for a quantum computer dubbed EuroQCS-Spain.
Due to be integrated with the EuroHPC supercomputer MareNostrum5, the EuroQCS-Spain system will be an adiabatic quantum computer. An adiabatic process is a type of thermodynamic process that occurs without transferring heat or mass between the thermodynamic system and its environment; D-Wave is such a provider.
The system will be hosted and operated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) in Spain and will complement the center’s existing digital quantum computer, which was procured under the Quantum Spain Initiative.
The total cost of the new system is expected to be €8.5 million ($9.2m) and will be co-funded by the EuroHPC JU and the EuroQCS-Spain consortium, led by BSC and including the Institut de Física d’Altes Energies from Spain and the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory in Portugal.
The closing date for application submissions is 6 pm CEST on June 25.
EuroHPC JU is a joint initiative between the EU, 35 European countries, and private partners to develop a supercomputing ecosystem in Europe.
Launched in 2018 and headquartered in Luxembourg, its mission is to develop, deploy, extend, and maintain a secure and connected supercomputing and quantum computing ecosystem, while supporting the development of key HPC skills for European science and industry.
To date, EuroHPC JU has signed hosting agreements with six sites across Europe to host and operate EuroHPC quantum computers.
In a statement, the EuroHPC JU said that the six hosts were selected because they offer the “widest possible variety of different European quantum computing platforms and hybrid classical-quantum architectures,” giving the continent the best possible opportunity to become frontrunners in quantum technologies.
The six new quantum computers are in addition to the two analog quantum simulators currently being deployed by French company PASQAL as part of the EuroHPC JU’s HPCQS (High-Performance Computer – Quantum Simulator hybrid) project.
HPCQS aims to integrate and couple two quantum simulators, each capable of controlling more than 100 qubits, with the 22 petaflops Joliot-Curie supercomputer at GENCI, the French national agency for High-Performance Computing, and the 44-petaflop JUWELS modular supercomputer at the Julich Supercomputing Centre in Germany.
