Delivering HVDC Networks – a Forum with CIGRE China

FORUM OBJECTIVES

Share Technology Developments and Engineering Applications: Highlight the latest innovations in HVDC technologies and their practical deployment across complex power systems, with a focus on real-world projects and best practices.

Support the Accelerated Energy Transition Toward Net-Zero: Facilitate strategic discussions on how HVDC and related technologies can enable large-scale renewable integration, grid flexibility, and decarbonization of the energy sector.

Educate and Inspire the Next Generation of Engineers: Provide a platform for knowledge transfer, mentorship, and engagement with young professionals, fostering the development of future leaders in the power systems community.

Who Should Attend

• Energy industry professionals
• Asset managers and engineers
• Policy makers and regulators
• Sustainability advocates

This will be an exciting day of knowledge sharing and networking, offering you the chance to learn from experts and connect with peers in the field.

AGENDA

10:00 | Arrival/Tea/Coffee

10:30 | Housekeeping/safety briefing

10:35 | Welcome

10:40 | Opening Address: Hu Rui, Secretary-General, Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering, CIGRE China

10:45 | Opening Address: Jonathan Chapman, Vice Chair, CIGRE UK

10:50 | Session Chair: Prof Jame Yu, Fellow of IET, Fellow of Royal Academy of Edinburg, Chair of CIGRE UK Technical Committee

• Presentation 1: ‘Development and Practice of China’s New Power System’: Prof Guo Jianbo, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Vice President of CSEE, Senior Adviser of SGCC, Honorary President, China EPRI
• Presentation 2: ‘The Challenges of Net-Zero’: Prof John Loughhead, FREng, Past President of the IET, University of Birmingham

11:50 – 12:20 | Coffee/Tea Break

• Presentation 3: ‘HVDC projects and our Beyond 2030 Objective’: Bless Kuri, Director of Strategic Planning, SSEN Transmission
• Presentation 4: ‘HVDC Developments in China and the Role HVDC Plays in the Evolution of CSG Grid Structure’: Xue Ying, Deputy Head of National School for Elite Engineers, SCUT

13:20 – 14:30 | Lunch

• Presentation 5: ‘Integrating Offshore Wind Gigawatts in the Transforming Power Grids‘: Dr Spyros Karamitsos, UK Lead Grid and System Studies Manager, Scottish Power – Iberdrola
• Presentation 6: ‘Transforming HVDC Technologies to Support Net-Zero Transition’: Prof Xiao-Ping Zhang, Co-Director, Birmingham Energy Institute

15:30 | Concluding Remarks, Prof James Yu

15:45 | Networking

SPEAKERS

Professor Guo Jianbo, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Vice President of the Chinese Society of Electrical Engineering, Senior Adviser at State Grid Corporation of China, and Honorary President of the China Electric Power Research Institute (CEPRI), is a leading expert in power system analysis and control. With decades of dedicated research in the field, he spearheaded China’s nationwide interconnected grid planning studies (2020–2050) during the 1990s. His pioneering contributions include the development of thyristor-controlled series compensation (TCSC) devices and ultra-high voltage (UHV, 1000 kV) series compensation systems, as well as leading his team to create a cross-regional AC/DC coordinated control system. He also oversaw the establishment of China’s National Energy Large-Scale Wind Power Grid Integration R&D (Experimental) Center. Notably, he leads the “Basic Theories of Human-machine Hybrid-augmented Intelligence System for Large-scale Power Grid Dispatching and Control” project under the “New Generation Artificial Intelligence” program.

Mr Hu Rui graduated from Applied Chemistry at the Department of Thermal Energy and Power Engineering, Wuhan University of Hydraulic and Electric Engineering in 1989. Later, he earned a Master’s degree in Management from Wuhan University. He is a senior engineer and currently serves as Secretary-General of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering. He has engaged in various fields such as technology management, corporate operation, journalism and publishing, and finance. Prior to his current position, he held leadership positions, including Deputy Director of the Secretariat in General Office at State Grid Corporation of China, Deputy General Manager at Yingda Media Group, China Power Finance Co., Ltd., State Grid Hebei Electric Power Co., Ltd., and State Grid Yingda International Holding Group Co., Ltd.

Dr Zhao Jianjun received his doctorate degree in Power System and Automation from China Electric Power Research Institute (CEPRI) in 2005. He is a professor-level senior engineer. His main research interests are power system analysis and simulation, power electronics. He is Deputy Secretary General of Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering. He has been engaged in high-voltage testing of substation equipment, power grid scheduling, power grid planning, power system analysis, and power electronic device control research. He has been awarded one China Excellence Patent Award, published more than 10 papers in core journals and international conferences, participated in the translation of 4 monographs and a dozen of technical reports.

Liu Min is Assistant Director of the International Department at Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering (CSEE), and Secretary of the Chinese National Committee of CIRED (the International Conference on Electricity Distribution). She has more than 10 years of work experience in international cooperation and exchange between sci-tech associations, foreign affairs management, awards, cross-border engineer registration, conferences and events, and international organizations. Liu Min holds a Master’s degree in Literature from Beijing Language and Culture University.

Prof Xue Ying received the B.Eng. degree in electrical engineering from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, and the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, U.K., in 2012, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Birmingham, in 2016. From 2016 to 2022, he was an Assistant Professor with the University of Birmingham. He is currently a Professor and Deputy Head of National School for Elite Engineers at South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, China.

John Loughhead spent six years as Chief Scientific Adviser to both the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change and the Department of Business Energy & Industrial Strategy. He was previously Executive Director of the UK Energy Research Centre and Vice-President Technology & Intellectual Property for the Alstom group. John is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the UK, China and Australia Academies of Engineering and of the Chinese Society of Electrical Engineers and Past-President of the UK Institution of Engineering & Technology. He is currently Professor of Clean Energy at the University of Birmingham, Chair of the Redwheel-Turquoise ClimateTech Fund and of the Low Carbon Innovation Fund, member of the Governing Council of the University of York, and has several other public and private sector advisory roles.

Jonathan Chapman is the Vice Chair of the CIGRE UK. Jonathan leads the Burns & McDonnell UK business, bringing over 25 years’ industry experience in engineering management, strategic planning and market development within the Energy, Water and Telecoms sectors. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer with a passion for all things engineering, including business excellence, innovation and entrepreneurial driven business growth. He has pioneered collaborative working in the infrastructure sector since the early days of alliancing, enabling his previous business to secure BS11000 accreditation. Prior to joining Burns & McDonnell, he was a board director within Balfour Beatty’s Power T&D business unit, leading market development activities and the development and delivery of major power projects, including leading the Offshore Transmission business unit. He started his career within the engineering consultancy world, leading the design and project management of multi-project work programmes. He also spent seven years with Skanska UK growing its telecoms and utility business. Burns & McDonnell is the US’s largest engineering business serving the energy and T&D sector, having been established 120 years ago in Kansas City. The business now provides technical consultancy, engineering design and project delivery services to utilities and project developers across its global markets.

Prof James Yu is the CIGRE UK Technical   Committee ChairHe is a charted engineer and an elected Fellow at IET (Institute of Engineering and Technology) and Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is the Technical Committee Chair of International Congress of Large Electrical Networks (CIGRE, UK); Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellow. James joined the UK electricity transmission/distribution industry after he finished his studies from Newcastle upon Tyne. He has taken various technical, commercial and managerial roles in the industry since 2003.  James successfully initialised and led 11 EU/UK flagship energy innovation projects to facilitate the low carbon transition for the electricity sector. With over 30% of the overall national energy strategic innovation funding between 2013 and 2023, James’ leadership has been recognised by: Innovation Star Award (2016); The IET International Innovation and Excellence Gold Award (2023). He received MBE in 2020 for his contribution to the energy supply industry and innovation.

Dr Bless Kuri is the Director of Strategic Energy Planning at SSEN Transmission, the Electricity Transmission Owner in the north of Scotland where he oversees the strategic planning of the transmission system, taking a whole system approach. Bless has over 20 years’ experience in the electricity industry, specialising in power system planning, energy system integration and investment in transmission networks. He is the Chair and Regular Member of the CIGRE UK Study Committee C1 on power system development and economics. Bless holds a BSc Honours degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Zimbabwe, an MSc degree in Electrical Power Systems and a PhD degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the University of Bath.

Dr Spyros Karamitsos (MEng, MSc, PhD) is the Chair and Elected Regular Member of the CIGRE UK Study Committee C4. He is the UK Lead Grid and System Studies Manager at Scottish Power – Iberdrola Renewables, where he oversees the power system studies, electrical design, performance and grid code compliance for the East Anglia Hub Offshore Wind Complex (EAH ~3.1GW). He is also the Innovation Lead of SPR’s Electrical Department and actively contributes to several Technical Working Groups within organisations such as CIGRE, IEEE, IET and the Carbon Trust. With extensive experience in HVDC systems and renewable energy integration technologies, Spyros previously worked as Senior HVDC Engineer for the East Anglia 3 Offshore Windfarm Project, as a Power Systems Consultant at HVDC TECH and as an Industrial-Researcher at the University of Strathclyde focusing on power and converter control systems modelling, studies and analysis. He holds a PhD degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, an M.Sc. from the University of Nottingham, and an M.Eng. from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Professor Xiao-Ping Zhang is Co-Director of the Birmingham Energy Institute. He is a Fellow of the IEEE “for contributions to modeling and control of high-voltage DC and AC transmission systems”, and a Fellow of IET. He is the CIGRE UK NGN Birmingham Hub Ambassador. He received his PhD degree from Southeast University, Nanjing in 1993. Prof. Zhang is the co-author of several books, including Flexible AC Transmission Systems: Modeling and Control(Springer, 2006 and 2012) and its translated Chinese edition. He has been a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) on HVDC, FACTS, and renewable energy generation. He currently serves as Senior Editor of the IEEE Open Access Journal of Power and Energy. Prof. Zhang served on the Expert Advisory Group for the UK Government’s Offshore Transmission Network Review between 2020 and 2023. His research spans modelling and control of HVDC, FACTS, Wind Generation and low frequency transmission; electricity market modelling; power system planning; Energy Quality; Energy Union and Global Electricity Grid. Prof Zhang is the receipt of the 2025 IEEE PES Nari Hingorani FACTS Award for his “contributions to modeling and design of FACTS controllers in AC and DC transmission system”.