Beijing, February 5, 2026 – The media briefing for CESC 2026, the 4th Energy Storage Conference and Energy Storage and Smart Grid Equipment Application Exhibition, was successfully held at the People's Daily New Media Tower in Beijing. The briefing was jointly organized by China Energy News, China Automotive News, and China City News – all under the administration of People's Daily – and the Jiangsu Energy Storage Industry Association. The event aimed to preview key highlights of the main conference, generate industry attention, and build momentum for the premier event scheduled for May 22-24, 2026, at the Nanjing International Expo Center. The briefing was hosted by Zhu Sha, Executive Secretary-General of the Jiangsu Energy Storage Industry Association.
In his opening address, Xie Rongbin, Party Committee Secretary, Chairman, President, and Editor-in-Chief of China Energy Automotive Communication Group, and also Publisher of China Automotive News and Editor-in-Chief of China Energy News, highlighted the deep integration of the global energy and digital revolutions, noting that energy storage and smart grids have formed a mutually empowering, symbiotic ecosystem. He cited the Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of the Power Grid, jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration, which sets targets for new-type power grid platforms to support a 30% share of new energy generation and accommodate 900 GW of distributed new energy by 2030. He emphasized Nanjing's role as a leading hub for the smart grid industry, with its industrial scale exceeding 500 billion yuan in 2025, a comprehensive industrial chain ecosystem, and abundant application scenarios, providing a solid foundation for hosting the conference.
Under the theme "Technology Breakthrough · Ecosystem Synergy," CESC 2026 is committed to building an integrated industry platform encompassing exhibitions, a main forum, competitions, and matchmaking. The event will feature four major upgraded highlights:
A Think Tank at the Dawn of the 15th Five-Year Plan
The Main Forum will bring together government advisors, academicians, experts, and strategic decision-makers from leading enterprises. Discussions will delve into critical issues such as capacity compensation mechanisms for energy storage, power market regulations, and the redefinition of the value of storage within zero-carbon manufacturing. Additionally, it will share project experiences and commercial strategies from major global markets.
A Pragmatic Platform Connecting Global Markets
The conference will specifically release and facilitate matchmaking for multiple high-quality overseas energy storage procurement projects, including solar-plus-storage, district storage, and hybrid projects in countries such as Vietnam, Morocco, Australia, and Spain. This initiative aims to assist Chinese energy storage companies in expanding internationally, transitioning from "product export" to "ecosystem export."
An Innovation Arena Driving Technology Commercialization
The concurrently held "2nd National Energy Storage Technology and Application Challenge" has been comprehensively upgraded. It pioneers an "Industry Demand Challenge" format, focusing on cutting-edge interdisciplinary fields such as the low-altitude economy, AI + storage, green shipping, electric heavy-duty trucks, and hydrogen energy. This format directly connects innovative solutions with real-world industry pain points, accelerating the translation of technology into commercial applications. The challenge features systematic upgrades in expert panels, track design, and competition models, with a newly added "Innovative Application Track." This track targets emerging fields like low-altitude economy drones, green ships, and battery-swapping heavy trucks, adopting a "call for solutions" model to solicit proposals.
A Premier Industry Gathering Integrating "Exhibition, Conference, Competition, +N"
The event plans an exhibition area of 50,000 square meters and expects to attract over 1,000 exhibitors and 100,000 professional visitors. It aims to establish itself as the annual benchmark event for the energy storage industry, injecting strong momentum into ecosystem building and high-quality development. For the first time, the exhibition will feature a "Smart Grid Innovation Achievements Zone," focusing on frontier applications such as digital twin grids, virtual power plants, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) integration. Aligning with Nanjing's "One Valley, Two Districts, Three Hubs" industrial layout, thematic seminars and supply-demand matchmaking sessions on smart grid and energy storage synergy will be held to promote precise industrial connections. On-site experience zones, including a city-level "Source-Grid-Load-Storage" coordinated demonstration area and a hydrogen energy industry application display zone, will also be set up.
As the title sponsor for the second consecutive session, Peng Xinhui, Deputy General Manager of the Domestic Large-Scale Storage Marketing Center at BYD Energy Storage Co., Ltd., stated that the company has been deeply engaged in the energy storage sector for 18 years, with operations spanning over 110 countries and regions and cumulative project scale exceeding 135 GWh. He noted that the industry is shifting from scale competition to comprehensive value competition based on technology, brand, and ecosystem. BYD's continued sponsorship aims to leverage the conference's high-end platform—which converges policy, government, industry, and capital—to deepen collaboration with all parties in areas like "vehicle-storage-grid" integration, technological innovation, and scenario implementation, jointly promoting the long-term, healthy, and sustainable development of the energy storage industry.
The conference's organizational structure has achieved an ecosystem upgrade. On behalf of the organizing committee, Zhu Junpeng, President of the Jiangsu Energy Storage Industry Association, stated that the joint organization by the Association and the three People's Daily-affiliated newspapers, co-organized by Beijing Oriental Idol Exhibition Co., Ltd., Chuangneng International Exhibition Service (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., and Jiangsu Dianlaohu Industrial Internet Co., Ltd., fosters deep "industry-academia-research-media" collaboration. Furthermore, the conference name has been expanded to "Energy Storage and Smart Grid Equipment Application Exhibition," featuring a newly established "Smart Grid Equipment Application Pavilion." This pavilion will comprehensively showcase grid-side key technologies, equipment, and system solutions, driving the integration of energy storage and smart grids from simple addition to deep fusion.
Zhou Xiwei, Secretary-General of the Challenge Competition Expert Committee and Deputy Director of the China Power Source-Grid-Load-Storage Integration Technology Expert Working Group, explained that this year's challenge adheres to a "non-commercial" principle. Relying on an authoritative expert committee and multiple authoritative testing institutions, it ensures impartial evaluation and objective data, striving to build an efficient bridge between genuine industrial needs and technological innovation.
The conference will also host multiple parallel forums, closed-door seminars, and business matchmaking events covering the entire industry chain, including policy, market, safety, and finance. Dou Na, Vice President of Dianlaohu Network and Dean of the Hudu Business School, introduced the relevant arrangements.
During the media exchange session, Shen Jinquan, First-Level Researcher of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Nanjing Sub-council, elaborated on Nanjing's comprehensive advantages in hosting the event. As a key central city in the Yangtze River Delta, Nanjing boasts a solid economic foundation, a complete industrial system, and developed transportation and logistics. Its regional GDP reached 1.94 trillion yuan in 2025, with its smart grid industrial cluster ranking among the nation's top tier. CESC 2026 will adopt a "pre-matchmaking, onsite, post-follow-up" full-process service model to deepen the integration of the exhibition and the industry, supporting Nanjing's goal of becoming an influential exhibition hub.
Responding to media inquiries, Zhu Junpeng noted the increasing urgency for "application scenario synergy innovation" and "standards and specification synergy" within the energy storage industry. He stated that the conference would continue to act as an ecosystem synergy node, guiding resource allocation to key areas. Zhou Xiwei added that the challenge aims to establish an industry-recognized benchmark for technical evaluation and an innovation incubation platform, accelerating the transition of research achievements to application.
The successful hosting of this media briefing marks the comprehensive advancement of CESC 2026's preparatory work. The conference is dedicated to constructing a high-end platform integrating display and exchange, industrial connection, and collaborative innovation, facilitating the high-quality development of the energy storage and smart grid sectors through technological breakthroughs and ecosystem fusion.
