The Global Energy Prize International Award Committee has named the laureates of the 2025 edition of the Prize.
The Prize in the Traditional Energy category went to Jinliang He, chair of High Voltage Engineering Research Institute, professor at China’s Tsinghua University. “This noble honour not only recognises my work alone, but also the collective endeavour of great minds advancing sustainable energy supply. This award illuminates a shared vision to power world safely and efficiently. My team and I have sought to confront two defining challenges enabling reliability and efficiency of extra- and ultra-high voltage power transmission. I dedicate this honour toward bridging innovation and advanced technologies for ultra-high voltage transmission systems”, said Jinliang He.
For the first time in the history of the Prize, the award in the Non-Traditional Energy category was given to a woman, Yu Huang, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (USA). She will be awarded for innovations in the field of catalyst development, which significantly improve the profitability, durability and performance of fuel cells.
“I’m deeply honoured and truly humbled to receive this prestigious award from the Global Energy Association. My group develops designer catalysts and, more importantly, we work to bridge the gap between discovery and deployment, turning new materials into working for energy conversion and storage. This is a field that demands curiosity, persistence and collaboration. I have been fortunate enough to work with an extraordinary group of students, postdocs and collaborators. Their creativity and passion are making all of this possible. This honour belongs just as much to them”, said Yu Huang.
Russian scientist Vladislav Khomich, head of research at the Institute for Electrophysics and Electric Power of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), won in the New Ways of Energy Application category. He will receive the Prize for outstanding contributions to the development, creation and fundamental research of plasma technologies and pulsed energy.
“Receiving this major award is a great honour for me. I am certain that the Global Energy Prize serves as a considerable stimulus to the development of Russian energy science and contributes to expansion of its international ties”, said Vladislav Khomich.
The names of the laureates of the Prize, which is awarded annually by the Global Energy Association, were selected from a shortlist of 15 scientists from 8 countries. A total of 90 submissions from 44 countries and territories across the world were included in the nomination cycle.
The ceremony of the Global Energy Prize Laureates’ Announcement was attended by Mikhail Kotyukov, Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Sergey Brilev, President of the Global Energy Association, Rae Kwon Chung, Chairman of the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee, and Committee members William Byun (Singapore), Dmitri Bessarabov (South Africa), Liye Xiao (China) and Abel Didier Tella (Republic of Côte d’Ivoire).
The final decision was made by the Global Energy Prize International Committee, headed by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rae Kwon Chung.
“World science is facing global challenges, and it is no exaggeration to say that our ability to quickly solve them will define the future of civilisation. The biggest challenges include the transition to clean technologies for the production, storage and transmission of energy and the search for solutions that can effectively combat global climate change”, said Rae Kwon Chung.
The procedure for selecting the laureates of the Global Energy Prize was closely followed not just on Earth but also in outer space. The Russian crew of cosmonauts from the International Space Station (ISS), which includes Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritsky and Kirill Peskov, recorded a video message to the laureates.
The Global Energy Prize award ceremony will be held as part of the Russian Energy Week, which will take place in Moscow from October 15 to 17.
