A Fast Quantum Algorithm for Searching the Quasi-Optimal Solutions of Unit Commitment

The electric power industry faces tough optimization problems that are challenging for classical computers, e.g., the unit commitment (UC). Quantum computing has the potential to provide a speedup for combinatorial optimization problems utilizing ad hoc algorithms like Grover's search algorithm. The quantum oracle is indispensable for Grover's search, yet it is difficult to realize. In this letter, we develop a way to construct efficient oracles for solving UC problems in Grover's framework. The oracle features a physics-informed circuit and a variational quantum circuit picking up good solutions. A quantum algorithm that leverages the oracle is then proposed, which could reduce the number of tractable linear programming subproblems required to solve the targeted UC problem when working in conjugation with classical computers. The oracle and algorithm are validated by results obtained on real quantum hardware and simulators.