Recently, ESIE 2026 opened at Beijing Capital International Convention & Exhibition Center. As a highly influential professional exhibition in the energy storage sector, this year's expo featured, for the first time, a dedicated Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) & Thermal Energy Storage Zone led by the CSTA. The zone brought together several industry backbone enterprises including Cosin Solar, Shouhang High-Tech, Hangzhou Huayuan Runpaq Energy Equipment Co., Ltd. , Shanghai Yahe Valve Completion Co., Ltd., and Jiangsu Shuangda Pump Industry Co., Ltd., comprehensively showcasing core technologies, key equipment, and diversified application solutions in the field of solar thermal energy storage, thereby establishing a comprehensive industrial chain display matrix for CSP-related industries.
On the opening day, the CSTA exhibition area attracted numerous industry professionals who stopped by for consultation, creating a vibrant atmosphere of on-site exchange. The consulting groups primarily consisted of industry practitioners, application enterprises, and investment institutions from Hebei, Jiangsu, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, Shanxi, Shandong, and other regions. Their inquiries focused on medium- and low-temperature solar thermal energy utilization, covering diverse practical scenarios such as drying in traditional glove manufacturing, industrial hot water, and clean steam generation. Meanwhile, various investment entities conducted in-depth inquiries regarding different technical pathways, mature products, and industrialization prospects of solar thermal utilization.
At the exhibition site, Du Fengli, Secretary-General of the CSTA, and Hong Song, Deputy Secretary-General, led the team in conducting professional explanations and Q&A sessions tailored to the needs of various market entities. They comprehensively outlined the application advantages and implementation pathways of solar thermal energy storage technologies, accurately matched various market demands with member units of the CSTA, and collected contact information from multiple parties to establish long-term communication bridges for subsequent in-depth cooperation and project implementation.
Additionally, the specially designed CSP photography display area at the booth presented the construction features and operational scenarios of CSP plants in an intuitive visual format, allowing exhibitors to directly perceive the industrial scale and technological value of CSP, thereby further deepening industry recognition and appreciation of solar thermal energy storage technologies.
Since its establishment, the CSTA, with the support of its leading organization—the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences—and its member units, has consistently been committed to promoting the healthy and sustainable development of the entire industrial chain technologies and industries, including solar energy collection, multi-grade conversion, storage, transmission, and utilization, based on the development needs of the CSP industry and the common interests of all parties, with the goal of enhancing industrial technological innovation capabilities. To date, the CSTA has accumulated nearly 200 council member units, covering almost the entire CSP industrial chain. Due to its outstanding achievements in organizational structure construction and operation, deep integration of industry-university-research collaborative innovation, and leading or supporting industrial innovation development, the CSTA has been consecutively rated as an "A-Level Active Industrial Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance." The New Energy and Renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Administration has sent letters of appreciation for multiple consecutive years, acknowledging the work of the CSTA. Leading the establishment of this professional exhibition zone represents both an important measure for the CSTA to promote industry resource integration and strengthen industrial voice, and a further step in accelerating the integration of solar thermal energy storage technologies into the mainstream energy storage industry system, thereby facilitating high-quality, sustainable industry development.