Barcelona Welcomes EuroQCS-Spain’s Groundbreaking Quantum Computer

EuroQCS-Spain: Europe’s Latest Quantum Computing Milestone

The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has officially inaugurated EuroQCS-Spain in Barcelona, marking a significant step in building a continent-wide quantum computing ecosystem.

Hosted and operated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center–Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), EuroQCS-Spain was unveiled during a ceremony attended by senior representatives from the Spanish Government, the Government of Catalonia, the European Commission, and EuroHPC JU.

This new quantum computer, developed by Spanish companies Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech and Do IT Now, is an analogue quantum computer designed for quantum annealing, a specialized approach for solving complex optimization problems.

Integrated with the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer, EuroQCS-Spain creates a hybrid classical-quantum computing platform available for researchers, industry, and public-sector users across Europe, expanding the continent’s quantum computing infrastructure.

After final calibration and testing at BSC, EuroQCS-Spain is set to onboard users soon, providing access to advanced optimization capabilities with potential benefits for sectors like logistics, finance, artificial intelligence, and scientific research.

Quantum Annealing System Integrated with MareNostrum 5

EuroQCS-Spain, located in Barcelona, is an analogue quantum annealer that implements quantum annealing routines, focusing on optimization tasks by evolving a quantum system toward efficient solutions.

The initial version of the machine features 10 physical qubits, with plans for future upgrades to enhance performance and expand potential use cases by increasing coherence times and data qubits.

The integration with MareNostrum 5, one of Europe’s leading pre-exascale supercomputers, allows users to leverage both traditional high-performance computing and quantum processing capabilities within a single research environment.

Applications Across Science, Industry, and AI

Quantum annealing has gained interest for its ability to tackle optimization challenges that are difficult for conventional computing systems, particularly in searching for optimal solutions within complex problem spaces.

Potential applications for EuroQCS-Spain include molecular modeling, physical system simulations, supply-chain optimization, financial modeling, quantum machine learning, and AI training workloads, supporting experimentation in hybrid classical-quantum workflows.

€8.5m Investment Backed by Spain, Portugal, and EuroHPC

The acquisition cost of EuroQCS-Spain is €8.5m, funded equally by EuroHPC JU and Spain’s Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, with additional support from Portugal to ensure operational continuity for at least three years.

Part of a Growing European Quantum Ecosystem

EuroQCS-Spain joins five other quantum computers procured by EuroHPC JU, including PIAST-Q in Poland, VLQ in Czechia, Euro-Q-Exa in Germany, and Lucy in France, as part of the initiative’s strategy to create a diverse portfolio of quantum technologies.

By supporting multiple technological approaches, EuroHPC aims to provide European users with access to complementary quantum platforms and accelerate innovation in the quantum computing sector, with additional systems planned for deployment in the Netherlands and Luxembourg.