On August 12, the 2026 20th China CSP Conference officially opened in Xining, Qinghai. Themed "Advancing the Industrialization of Concentrated Solar Power through Scientific and Technological Innovation," the conference was co-hosted by the China Solar Thermal Alliance (CSTA) and the Chinese Society of Engineering Thermophysics (CSET), with strategic cooperation from Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd., CGN (Qinghai) New Energy Investment Co., Ltd., and Royal Tech CSP Limited. Over 800 delegates from energy regulatory authorities, universities and research institutes, leading enterprises across the entire industrial chain, power design institutes, and media attended the conference, engaging in in-depth discussions on core topics such as full-chain technological breakthroughs, large-scale deployment, and cost reduction in CSP. The opening ceremony was presided over by Liu Luping, Vice Chairman of CSTA and Professor-level Senior Engineer.
During the opening session, Academician Xu Jianzhong of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Permanent Honorary Chairman of the conference, sent a congratulatory letter, noting that CSP is a supporting technology capable of serving as the "ballast stone" role of thermal power units. He encouraged the CSTA to consolidate industry resources, enhance power generation efficiency and reduce construction and operational costs through technological innovation, and deepen collaborative research among industry, academia, and research institutes.
Li Yaohua, Director and Party Secretary of the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced that the Institute has built multiple world-first and China-first CSP pilot power plants, possessing full-chain R&D capabilities. Aligning with the "15th Five-Year Plan" target of 15 GW installed capacity by 2030, the Institute will leverage Qinghai's resource advantages to build the "China CSP Capital," open research platforms for collaborative breakthroughs, and contribute to the construction of a new energy system.
Bai Bofeng, Vice Chairman of CSET and Professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University, stated that CSP combines the advantages of long-duration thermal storage, stable output, and flexible regulation, capable of mitigating the intermittency and volatility of wind and solar power, providing peak shaving, frequency regulation, and inertia support for the power system. It is an important measure to enhance power system resilience and safeguard national energy security.
Representatives from industrial chain enterprises shared innovative achievements based on practical experience. Wu Huaxin, Marketing Director of Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd., introduced that leveraging the Golmud salt lake resources, the company has achieved a stable annual production capacity of 400,000 tons of potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate, ensuring sustainable supply of binary and ternary molten salts. The company has also innovatively launched molten salt recycling and equipment financial leasing services, developed low-corrosion specialty molten salts, and reduced logistics costs through geographical advantages, contributing to the grid-parity construction of CSP plants in Qinghai.
Zhang Hao, General Manager of Haixi Xuteng Solar Thermal Technology Co., Ltd., stated that the dual attributes of CSP—"power generation plus long-duration energy storage"—serve as the core support for high-penetration renewable energy grids. The company will focus on core equipment R&D, collaborate with upstream and downstream partners to tackle high-efficiency technologies, and continuously reduce the levelized cost of electricity .
Wang Zhifeng, Chairman of the conference, Chairman of CSTA, and Researcher at the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, reviewed the two-decade development journey of the conference, pointing out that CSP is a distinctive dispatchable power source capable of adding new generation capacity, fundamentally different from the "PV plus storage" paradigm. Going forward, the industry must simultaneously tackle the dual efficiency challenges of light and heat, coordinate R&D forces, leverage Qinghai's resource advantages, and strive to build Qinghai into a world-class solar thermal industry highland.
The conference featured a top-tier lineup of keynote speakers. Academician He Yaling, Professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University and Chair of the CSTA Expert Committee; Xu Haiming, Director of Qinghai Provincial Energy Bureau; Zhang Yiguo, Vice President and Professor-level Senior Engineer of China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute; Dr. Wu Huaxin, Marketing Director of Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd.; Yu Ke, General Manager of Royal Tech CSP Limited; Jin Jianxiang, Chairman and Chief Scientist of Cosin Solar Technology Co., Ltd.; and Zhang Jian, Deputy General Manager of CGN (Qinghai) New Energy Investment Co., Ltd., delivered keynote reports. These industry experts systematically dissected the development path of the CSP industry during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period from multiple dimensions including policy planning, technological innovation, regional construction, and risk management, identifying large-capacity units and low-cost thermal storage media as core R&D directions.
Under the moderation of Sun Rui, Senior Advisor of China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute and National Master of Engineering Design, a high-end dialogue was held on "How to Help Qinghai Build the 'China CSP Capital.'" Participants included Dr. Liu Yafang, Distinguished Chief Expert of China Energy Research Society and former Deputy Director of the Energy Conservation and Technology Equipment Department of the National Energy Administration; Dr. Liang Zhipeng, Chairman of the China Renewable Energy Society; Dr. Xiaoliye, Researcher at the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Director of the Energy Storage Technology Research Department/Multidisciplinary Research Center; Ni Jiawei, Deputy General Manager of SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Co., Ltd.; Li Wei, Vice President of Cosin Solar Technology Co., Ltd.; Duan Yanglong, Vice President of the New Energy Engineering Institute of Northwest Engineering Corporation Limited (PowerChina Northwest); Zhang Ji, Director of the Concentrating and Heat Collection Research Institute of CGN Solar Thermal Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.; and Lu Zhiheng, Technical Director of Royal Tech CSP Limited. The guests offered suggestions and insights on topics such as technological iteration of the CSP industry, regional industrial construction, adaptation to new-type power systems, and project implementation practices, helping Qinghai solidify its foundation for construction and driving the national CSP industry to a new stage.
The three-day conference featured nearly 100 professional reports and high-end dialogues, with four exhibition areas attracting 42 enterprises, creating an integrated platform for technology display, business negotiation, and resource docking. On August 14, the organizers will arrange for delegates to visit the PowerChina Gonghe CSP Demonstration Plant on-site to verify the engineering application effectiveness of innovative technologies.
The conference boasted a high-caliber guest list with comprehensive industry coverage, bringing together core forces from government, enterprises, academia, and research. Distinguished attendees included Chen Ling, Vice Mayor of Golmud City, Qinghai Province; Bao Wujin, Director of the Hainan Prefecture Energy Bureau, and Ma Chaocheng, Deputy Director; Shen Jie, Director of the Golmud City Energy Bureau; Wu Jianxue, Party Secretary and Chairman of PowerChina Guiyang Engineering Corporation Limited; Teng Weiming, Chief Engineer of Zhejiang Energy Group; Luo Ercang, Deputy Director of the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Lei Zhigang, Deputy Party Secretary and General Manager of Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd.; Zhang Li, Deputy General Manager of China Energy Engineering Corporation Limited (CEEC); Qin Longhua, Deputy Chief Engineer of Zhongnan Engineering Corporation Limited, and Wu Qing, Deputy General Manager of PowerChina Guiyang Engineering Corporation Limited; Yang Li, Deputy General Manager of PowerChina New Energy. Core representatives from CSTA and the industrial chain also attended, including Zhao Xiaohui, Executive Vice Chairman of the Alliance; Kou Jianyu, Fan Duojin, and Wang Haoyi, Vice Chairmen of the Alliance; Hao Weidong, Chairman of Shanxi Changsheng New Energy; Liu Ming, General Manager of Xiamen Chuanghe Luxiang; Wei Peng, Chairman of Shanxi Wojin New Material; Zhuo Xianlin, Director of CGN Wind Power; Gao Yong, General Manager of CGN Qinghai New Energy; Liu Wei of Northwest Engineering Corporation Limited (PowerChina Northwest); and Gao Hongqi of Northwest Electric Power Design Institute Co., LTD, of China Power Engineering Consulting Group (CPECC Northwest). Media representatives from China News Service, Xinhua News Agency, China National Radio, People's Daily Online, Science and Technology Daily, Economic Daily, and Xining Radio and Television Station were also present.
This year's conference specially invited senior industry veterans who attended the inaugural session to witness the two-decade journey of technological innovation in the CSP industry. Over a decade ago, core equipment such as concentrating and heat collection systems and high-temperature thermal storage relied heavily on imports. Today, domestic research institutes and manufacturing enterprises have collaborated to achieve significant improvements in the localization rate across the entire CSP chain. A large number of young researchers have rooted themselves in the front lines, forming an efficient innovation-to-application closed loop of "laboratory R&D—pilot verification—large-scale plant deployment."
Scan the mini program below for more conference information:
