Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU Faculty of Engineering

Outstanding Young Alumni Award of PolyU Faculty of Engineering

Dr NIE Yongquan 聂涌泉博士
- Doctor of Philosophy, 2017

Dr Nie serves as Director of the Automation Division at the China Southern Power Dispatching & Control Center and holds the rank of Senior Engineer. He is designated an Elite Talent of Guangzhou and receives the Guangdong Provincial Government Talent Allowance — a recognition reserved for top professionals contributing to regional development. He also serves as an External M.Sc. Supervisor at Guangdong University of Technology, a role reflecting the academic recognition of his expertise.

He holds a Ph.D. in Power Systems & Automation from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He pioneered the electricity market reform and next-generation EMS of CSG and has been recognized with 1 National Science & Technology Progress Award (1st Prize) and 14 provincial/ministerial-level awards — including multiple CSG First Prizes in science, technology, and management innovation — as well as the CSG First-Class Merit Citation, the corporation's highest collective honor. He is the holder of 122 granted invention patents, and has led the drafting of 1 national standard (GB4473-2024), 1 power industry standard, and 41 CSG enterprise standards — a standard-setting portfolio that shapes how new power systems are built and operated across China's entire southern grid.

Dr Nie pioneered the Cloud-Edge Fusion EMS, a cloud-native, containerized dispatch system that for the first time achieved panoramic observability and controllability across China's multi-voltage transmission and distribution networks, overcoming the capacity limits of legacy platforms. He designed and commissioned China's first Regional Frequency Regulation Ancillary Service Market system, now operating with 581 market participants and an annual transaction volume exceeding RMB 2.1 billion — a mechanism that directly catalyzed the energy storage industry in Guangdong and serves as a blueprint for national market reform.

On the generation side, he led to advance thousands of new energy plants from zero to full AGC and AVC automatic control, transforming the grid's ability to absorb and regulate renewable energy at large scale — a critical contribution to China's carbon neutrality transition. His work also extends beyond China's borders: he developed the Laos National Dispatching Automation System and supported the China – Laos 500 kV cross-border interconnection, exporting Chinese power automation technology to Southeast Asia and enhancing regional energy security.