The International Conference on Smart Grid and Clean Energy 2021 (ICSGCE 2021) was successfully organised on a virtual platform from 15^th to 17^th Oct 2021. This conference was initially planned to be held physically in Kuching, Sarawak, with the financial sponsorship of Sarawak Convention Bureau. However, the organizing committee has changed its plan to hold the conference on the virtual platform after considering the safety and the well-being of the participants due to the pandemic Covid 19. The key sponsors of the conference include Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), IEEE Power & Energy Society in Malaysia (PES) and University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC).

The local organizing committee comprises Prof lr Dr Lim Yun Seng, and Dr lr Wong Jianhui, Dr Chua Kein Huat, Dr Thiam Hui San, and Dr Steven Lim, who are mainly the members of UTAR Research Centre for Power Systems and Electricity (CPSE). Prof lr Dr Ewe Hong Tat is the honorary chair of the conference. The International Conference on Smart Grid and Clean Energy Technologies is an excellent platform for educators, researchers, scientists, and engineers from different countries of the world to share their latest knowledge and findings on the topics related to power and energy, including energy generation, delivery, conversion, management, storage, consumption, trading, policies, energy resources and engineering education. There were participants from USA, China, Switzerland, France, Germany, Norway, Taiwan, India, and Malaysia.

The keynote speeches of the conference are listed in the following: -

• "Promotion Drive" by Associate Professor lr Dr Nur Ashida Salim, Deputy Chair IEEE PES, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia
• "Resilient Distribution Systems" by Prof Chen Ching Liu, IEEE Fellow, Virginia Tech, USA
• "Resilient Networked Microgrids Energy Management System" by Prof Mo Yuen Chow, IEEE Fellow, North Carolina State University, USA
• "Educating Tomorrow’s Engineers" by Emeritus Prof lr Dr Chuah Hean Teik, IEEE Fellow, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia
• "Resilience in Electrical Energy Supply System: Challenges and Opportunities" by Prof. Hazlie Mokhlis, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia
• "Power Grid based on Power Electronic and Renewable Power Plants" by Prof. Dr. Zhe Chen, IEEE Fellow, Aalborg University, Denmark.
• "Microgrid Technology and Transformation" by Prof. S. M. Muyeen, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.

In his opening remark, the Centre Chairperson Prof Lim Yun Seng addressed the challenges of energy trilemma faced by many developed and developing countries. He also said that electrical energy is an important commodity for industrial, commercial, and residential customers to carry out their daily activities. The security, affordability, and environmental sustainability of the supply of electrical energy are the main three aspects, also known as energy trilemma. Any one-dimensional approach that is used to improve one aspect only, say security of energy, without considering the price of electricity and the greenhouse emission is no longer the solution at present. A holistic approach is necessary to improve the main three aspects of the energy trilemma. As a result, a wide range of studies encompassing the technical, commercial and regulatory aspects of energy supply accompanied by Industries 4.0 are always necessary nowadays.