Editorial

Dear CIGRE Members,
 

Welcome to the October edition of Electra.

Before we look at this edition’s topics, I would like to speak about CIGRE’s second virtual Session.

In 2020, 2,500 members participated in the on-line session. In 2021, we reached 1,600. This was the minimum that we had expected but below last year’s registration. We all hope that the pandemic situation will improve and that the 2022 CIGRE Session will be back to a normal, in-person conference and exhibition, and that we may finally celebrate our centennial together.

In the meanwhile you still have the option to view the session live events and presentations which have been recorded and are available on CIGRE Centennial Session 2021.

One thing that we are all very pleased to see is the great vitality and ingenuity shown by CIGRE organizers for this virtual session, enabling panels, group discussion meetings and workshops, and tutorials to take place via broadcasting studios located in Paris, just as if it were a normal session with live interaction.

CIGRE TV was another innovation that provided a new immersive experience to the remote delegates.

This achievement has been made possible thanks to the very strong engagement and commitment of our Technical Council with a superb support from the Central Office. Another great thank you goes to the Study Committee chairs, secretaries, presenters, moderators, and special reporters.

As I noted in my Session closing remarks, energy networks don’t have the option to stop during a global crisis and neither has CIGRE. I truly believe that the most important - and what people will remember - is that the life of our association got through this historic pandemic and continues to deliver its contribution to shared knowledge.

We will always continue to develop and share our energy network experience in a continuously changing and challenging environment, facilitating energy transition and access to electricity for all.

The CIGRE focus will always be about - as it has been these last hundred years - the technologies and their evolution:

• Ensuring network stability while increasing the level of renewable integration,
• Increasing long distance power exchanges between countries in AC or DC,
• Developing smart grids and end-to-end energy management,
• Integrating storage and now developing the use of clean hydrogen.

Now about this very full ELECTRA edition… Among others, these are a few of the articles:

• An overview of the International Hydrogen Strategies study
• An update on new non-SF₆ gases and gas-mixtures for gas-insulated systems, and an additional TB 842 report on dielectric testing of gas-insulated HVDC systems.
• Annual Reports for SCs C3, C4, C5, and C6.
• And an interesting article on Energy, Climate: the essential contribution of nuclear power
• In addition to the usual Global Connections, Technology E2E, Life of the Association, and TBs.

This pandemic, and our continued knowledge sharing, has shown how important CIGRE is to many… and this is why I am asking that we all do our best to continue to support CIGRE.

Please convey to your friends and colleagues the benefits of our organization.

Register to view the 2021 Session presentations, share articles of interest, explain the networking opportunities, and encourage them to become active new members. We should also look at opportunities to foster sponsorships via your companies.

CIGRE needs all the financial support it can get. CIGRE will reinvent itself and surpass this Covid drama. From here on, we welcome this new CIGRE century!

Best regards,
Michel Augonnet