History of CIRED
The first CIRED Conference was organised in May 1971 by AIM - Association des Ingénieurs de Montefiore, Belgium.
At the same time, there was an increase in conferences on electricity distribution in the UK, with events held by the IEE (now the IET) and the UK Electrical Research Association (ERA).
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. Originally alternating between the UK and Belgium, as CIRED has grown in size and importance, the conference now visits a different European location every two years.
From 2008, CIRED Workshops have been held in the years in between the conferences, focusing on a particular topic within electricity distribution.
Conference name
The acronym ‘CIRED’ is derived from Congrès International des Réseaux Electriques de Distribution, in English International Conference on Electricity Distribution.
Since April 2021, CIRED has been established as an international not-for-profit Association.