The 24th IET International Conference on AC and DC Power Transmission concludes

Co-organised by the IET, Tsinghua University and Huairou Laboratory, the milestone gathering celebrated the 10th anniversary of the ACDC Conference series hosted in China through a successful three-day program. 

The flagship event has established itself as a world-leading platform that bridges academic breakthroughs and industrial practice across the global AC-DC power transmission ecosystem. It brought together a distinguished cohort of domestic and international academics, top-tier university researchers, technical representatives from leading power grid research institutes and senior executives from global power equipment pioneers, to collectively chart actionable pathways to advance next-generation power systems.  

Drawing around 400 on-site delegates, the 2026 Conference redefined its core positioning around the dual pillars of "cutting-edge academic exploration and targeted industrial deployment" – a deliberate departure from previous iterations. This framework dismantled long-standing information silos that historically separated fundamental university research, lab-based frontier innovation, on-grid engineering implementation, and end-to-end product development at equipment manufacturers. 

The full agenda featured high-profile keynote addresses, industry roundtable dialogues, parallel thematic sessions, peer-reviewed oral paper presentations, expert talks, interactive poster exhibitions and guided technical site visits. Centred on critical priorities including core foundational components, mission-critical power equipment and landmark AC-DC transmission projects for modern power system build-out, participants engaged in in-depth exchanges on the field’s latest research frontiers, evolving industry landscapes and long-term technological trajectories.  

Across the three days, eight plenary keynote speeches were complemented by 11 dedicated technical tracks. Attendees held rigorous, solution-focused discussions on a full spectrum of high-priority industry topics – from advanced power electronic equipment to diversified renewable energy conversion technologies and more.

A dedicated session — the IET China Fellow and Industry Forum — was also launched exclusively for this edition, where a large assembly of FIETs and Chartered Engineers shared targeted insights and strategic recommendations to support the IET’s long-term development in the region.

Beyond the on-site discussions, 200+ peer-reviewed academic papers were disseminated through oral presentations and poster showcases, while the multi-channel live streaming coverage for the main hall and all parallel sessions accumulated a total of nearly 80,000 views.  

The event was a successful occasion, marked by valuable discussion, collaboration and expertise. It fittingly celebrated the milestone of reaching 10 years of the ACDC Conference series.

ACDC will return to Glasgow on 1-3 March next year, for ACDC Global 2027. We are inviting full paper submissions for peer review until Friday, 2 October 2026. You can learn more about the ACDC conferences on our website.