[Industry Depth] Insights 2026: The competitive landscape of China's molten salt energy storage industry (attached with evaluation of enterprise competitiveness in sub-sectors, etc.)

Major listed companies in the industry: Lanke High-tech (601798.SH), Dongfang Electric Heating (300217.SZ), Xizi Jieneng (002534.SZ), Dongfang Electric (600875.SH), Lanshi Heavy Equipment (603169.SH), Shanghai Electric (601727.SH), Shouhang High-Tech (002665.SZ), Kesheng Technology (H2220.HK), Donghua Technology (002140.SZ), Products Environmental Energy (603071.SH), etc.

Core data of this article: Enterprise competition landscape; Market segment competition landscape; Industry competitiveness evaluation

I. Types of participants in the molten salt energy storage market in China

China's molten salt energy storage industry has formed a multi-entity collaborative pattern composed of material suppliers, equipment manufacturers, EPC contractors, investment and development entities, and operation and maintenance service providers. The upstream materials and equipment links provide core hardware support, the midstream uses the EPC general contracting model to achieve technology integration and project delivery, and the downstream is led by large-scale power generation groups. Some professional manufacturers extend from equipment supply to power station operation and maintenance services, and each link is divided into division of labor and cooperation, and work together to promote large-scale industrial development.

2. Competitive landscape of China's molten salt energy storage market

As far as China's molten salt energy storage system solution market is concerned, my country has currently formed a highly concentrated competition pattern dominated by large-scale central power construction enterprises. China Energy Construction ranks first with a market share of 37%, followed by China Power Construction with 33%. The two companies together account for nearly 70% of the market share, forming a bipolar pattern in the first echelon; Xi'an Thermal Engineering Institute ranks third with a market share of 8%. Relying on its profound technological accumulation in the coal and electricity field, it occupies characteristic advantages. The shares of the four state-owned power generation enterprises and professional companies, namely, National Energy Investment Corporation, Longyuan Technology, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation, and State Power Investment Corporation, are distributed between 4% and 6%, forming the second echelon; As the only private professional company on the list, Kosong Technology only accounts for 1.8%, but its technical strength has been recognized by the market.

Overall, this market presents distinctive characteristics dominated by the central state-owned enterprise system and driven by the EPC general contracting model, with a high degree of industrial concentration.

3. Market concentration of molten salt energy storage in China

China's molten salt energy storage market shows extremely high industry concentration, and the head effect is extremely significant. Data shows that the two leading companies of China Energy Construction and China Power Construction together account for 69.8% of the molten salt energy storage system solution market, forming a solid dual-leading pattern; the market share of the top five companies jumped to 88.4%, basically covering the vast majority of the industry's project resources; the cumulative share of the top ten companies reached 99%, almost monopolizing the entire market. Behind this pattern stems from the extremely high requirements for project experience, engineering qualifications and technical capabilities for the integration of molten salt energy storage systems. Large-scale power construction central enterprises such as China Energy Construction and China Power Construction have relied on the integration capabilities of the entire industry chain and profound accumulation of engineering performance., they have built significant resource and experience barriers. It is difficult for new entrants to break through in the short term, and the market shows a competitive trend of the strong and the strong.

4. Layout of competitive enterprises in China's molten salt energy storage market segment

1. Market competition pattern in the field of molten salt materials

Molten salt materials are the core heat transfer and heat storage media for photovoltaic power generation and new energy storage systems. Their purity and formula directly affect system efficiency and safety. With the outbreak of the "photovoltaic + multi-energy complementation" and thermal power flexibility transformation market, High-purity molten salt has jumped from auxiliary materials to key strategic resources.

At present, my country's molten salt materials market presents a dual pattern of "state-owned enterprise resource giant + segmented technology pioneer": resource-based enterprises represented by Salt Lake Shares and Xinjiang Saltpeter dominate by virtue of their mineral resources and production capacity scale, while Deer Chemical, China Nuclear Thermal Salt and other companies quickly break through differentiated competition by mastering proprietary technologies such as molten salt-level purification and online purification.

2. Market competition pattern in the field of molten salt storage tanks

Molten salt storage tanks are the core storage equipment in molten salt energy storage systems. They are used to stably accommodate molten salt heat transfer and storage media for a long time under high temperatures of 400-600℃. Their structural design, material corrosion resistance and construction process are directly related to the safety and life of the entire energy storage system, and the technical threshold is extremely high.

Currently, this market segment is dominated by large-scale power station equipment state-owned enterprises with deep design and manufacturing of pressure/atmospheric pressure vessels, forming a concentrated competition pattern of "double barriers to technical qualifications". Harbin Boiler Factory, Dongfang Boiler, etc. rely on Wanfang's independent design and full-chain delivery capabilities, accounting for an absolute share of mainstream solar thermal and thermal power peak shaving projects.

3. Market competition pattern for solar thermal power generation concentrating heat collection systems

The photothermal power generation concentrating and collecting system is a core subsystem that focuses direct solar light to the heat sink through a large-scale mirror field, thereby realizing high-temperature heat energy collection and conversion. Its cost accounts for about half of the total investment of the power station, which directly determines the power generation efficiency and economy of the photothermal project.

At present, my country's solar thermal power generation concentration and collection system market presents a pattern of "one super and many strong". Domestic suppliers have fully dominated commercial projects. According to the CSPPLAZA solar thermal power generation platform, it is a comprehensive analysis of solar thermal power generation projects that have been put into operation, under construction/under promotion in China. As of April 2026, Zhejiang Kesheng Technology is absolutely leading with an installed capacity share of 47.1%; Shouhang High-tech, Lanzhou Dacheng, Dongfang Boiler, Longteng Thermal, etc. are ranked next. The three major technical routes of tower, trough and linear Fresnel have all completed engineering verification by mature enterprises, and the localization of supporting capabilities of the entire industrial chain has become the core support for large-scale development.

Note: The statistical time is April 16, 2026. Only commercial projects with identified suppliers of concentrated heat collection systems and installed capacity of more than 40MW are counted here.

5. Summary of the competitive status of China's molten salt energy storage industry

Judging from the five-force competition model, the overall competitive situation of China's molten salt energy storage industry is relatively moderate. The concentration of existing competitors is high but not yet heated. Potential entry barriers are high. Short-term threats from alternatives are limited, and upstream and downstream bargaining power is clearly differentiated.

Forward-looking research, the competition level of existing competitors in China's molten salt energy storage industry is rated as 3 points. The market is dominated by the central enterprises 'EPC dual leaders, and the CR5 is close to 90%. However, as the industry is in a period of large-scale expansion, the competition for market share of leading enterprises has not yet entered the stock battle stage; the threat score for potential entrants is 1 point. System integration places extremely high requirements on engineering qualifications, technical capabilities and project performance, naturally creating deep barriers, making it difficult for new entrants to break through in the short term; The alternative threat score is 2 points. Although electrochemical energy storage has outstanding advantages in the field of short-term frequency modulation, in the field of large-scale long-term energy storage, molten salt energy storage still has significant comparative advantages in safety and cost; The downstream bargaining power score is 4 points. The project investors are highly concentrated in large power generation groups such as National Energy Group and CGN. Procurement decisions are centralized and standardized, creating strong bargaining pressure on solution suppliers; The upstream bargaining power score is 2 points. The core equipment supply links such as concentrating heat collection, storage and heat exchange systems are highly localized and the competition is sufficient. Only a few high-end components such as high-precision molten salt valves and high-temperature pumps are subject to imports. The overall bargaining power of the supplier is limited.

For industry research and analysis, please refer to the "Market Outlook Prediction and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report of China Molten Salt Energy Storage Industry 2026-2031" by the Prospective Industry Research Institute.

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