The 4th IEEE International Conference on Energy Internet and Energy Systems Integration (IEEE EI2) was held in Wuhan from October 31 to November 1, 2020. The conference was jointly organized by IEEE-PES, Chinese Society of Electrical Engineering, Wuhan University and Tsinghua University. Shu Yinbiao, Chairman of International Electrotechnical Commission, President of Chinese Society of Electrical Engineering and Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, served as the chairman of the Conference. This conference is the largest offline academic conference in the global electric power field since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. A total of 1018 papers from 24 countries and regions were received and reviewed by more than 2000 experts and scholars around the world, and finally 849 papers were chosen. The conference was held by means of online and offline oral reports given by more than 400 experts and scholars, and more than 1100 scholars and experts attended the conference offline.

At the conference, Professor Sun Hongbin of Tsinghua University was granted the first Energy Internet Pioneer Award for his leadership contribution to promote development of Energy Internet in IEEE PES community.

Zhou Xiaoxin, IEEE Fellow and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences presented the award to Sun Hongbin

The Energy Internet Pioneer Award is the first award established at the IEEE EI2 conference to encourage scholars around the world to make pioneering contributions to this emerging cross-cutting field of energy Internet and to promote the development of energy Internet. The award is given to a maximum of one person per session, the IEEE PES Energy Internet Coordinating Committee solicits nominations globally, and the International Award Committee of the IEEE EI² Conference, on the basis of the nomination, vote to determine the winner, and finally announce and present the prize at the IEEE EI² conference.

The first Energy Internet Pioneer Award was presented at the award ceremony of the 2020 IEEE EI2 Conference. Zhou Xiaoxin, IEEE Fellow, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and honorary president of China Electric Power Research Institute, presented the award to Sun Hongbin, the first Energy Internet Pioneer Award winner and a professor of Tsinghua University.

Certificate of Energy Internet Pioneer Award

Academician Zhou Xiaoxin read out the award speech: in recent years, we have witnessed Professor Sun Hongbin's leadership in scientific and technological innovation, institution establishment and conference organization to promote the development of energy Internet. In 2015, he initiated and organized the "Energy Internet" Xiangshan Science Conference, which is recognized as a milestone in the development of China's energy Internet technology. He put forward the theory of unified energy path and led the team to develop the first Integrated Energy Management System (IEMS). The IEEE International Conference on the Integration of Energy Internet and Energy Systems (EI2) founded in 2017 has become the flagship conference in the field of energy Internet. In 2020, he presided over the publication of his monograph "Energy Internet", which was reprinted nine times in the past six months. More than 10,000 copies were sold, which had a great academic and industrial impact. In June 2020, he promoted the establishment of Energy Internet Coordination Committee, the first committee initiated by Chinese scholars in the history of IEEE PES, and served as the first chairman. Professor Sun Hongbin's great role in promoting the development of energy Internet is obvious to all.