CIRED is the International Conference and Exhibition on Electricity Distribution. It was founded in 1971 and initiated by the institution of electrical engineers of Belgium and the United Kingdom. CIRED works for the purpose of increasing the business relevant competencies, skills and knowledge of those who see themselves as a part of the electricity distribution community, whether they are from the utility, product, consultancy, service, business or academic sector. CIRED is dedicated to the design, construction and operation of public distribution systems and of large installations using electrical energy in industry, services and transport.
The first CIRED Conference was organized in May 1971 by AIM - Association des Ingénieurs de Montefiore, Belgium, as the result of the interest shown in their previous conference held in Liège in 1969 on the same subject. Similarly, in the UK, the large amount of interest shown in conferences on electricity distribution held in Edinburgh by the UK Electrical Research Association (ERA) in 1967 and by the formally known Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), now the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and ERA jointly in 1970 demonstrated the need for an international conference on this subject. In order to avoid a major overlap between the existing conferences, it was decided to hold a conference every two years, under the name of CIRED, alternately in Belgium and the United Kingdom. The growing interest in CIRED activities and the increasingly important part of the exhibition have led the organizers to move outside from Belgium and the UK and to consider every two years changing venue in Europe.
China sent official representatives to attend the CIRED events for the first time in 1978, followed which it established the CIRED Chinese Liaison Committee in 1987 and the CIRED Chinese National Committee in 2010, with approval from China Association for Science and Technology and Ministry of Science and Technology. The CIRED Chinese National Committee is responsible for promoting CIRED in China and encourages domestic participation to CIRED activities.
For further information about CIRED, please visit the CIRED website.