Overview
On October 12, the 2026 World New Energy & Materials Congress opened in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, under the theme “Multi-Energy Coordination, Complementary Power: Building a Global New Energy Ecosystem.” It convened domestic and international academicians, experts and leading-firm representatives, drawing more than 300 enterprises and over 8,000 participants to explore green-energy transition pathways. Structured as “1+1+1+N,” the event paired an opening plenary and high-level government–industry–academia meeting with an exhibition and parallel forums on new-type storage, green-power direct connection, compute–power coordination, low-altitude economy and the 2026 China Green Hydrogen-based Energy Annual Conference.
Five major innovation results were unveiled, spanning storage, green hydrogen and rare-earth new materials. The concurrent 30,000 m² exhibition featured eight zones—central/SOE themes, wind, solar PV, hydrogen, storage, NEVs, coal-based materials and AI+energy—showcasing advances from silicon-carbon anodes to long-duration storage and smart grids.
Background & Interpretation
1. Industry Background and Policy Context
In June 2026, China’s NDRC and NEA issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for a New Energy System, targeting a preliminary clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient system by 2030, with new energy and materials named strategic emerging industries. As the plan’s opening year, 2026 sees an accelerating energy-tech revolution, and the congress carries a mandate to blaze the trail for transition.
2. Core Drivers and Mechanisms
Academician Wu Qiang noted that materials are the core bottleneck of new energy—heat resistance, corrosion resistance and cycle life dictate equipment ceilings, and transition speed hinges on materials science. The innovation paradigm is shifting from linear, single-technology breakthroughs to cross-disciplinary, networked collaboration where materials, devices, systems and scenarios form feedback loops.
3. Market Structure and Value-Chain Impact
Inner Mongolia—a national energy and strategic-resource base—reached over 170 GW of new-energy capacity in 2025, with wind exceeding 100 GW and generation leading the nation for over a decade. In 2026 it plans 382 energy projects with RMB 324bn investment, lifting new-energy generation’s share to 33%. Congress themes map tightly onto Ordos’ industrial map; green hydrogen, storage and compute–power coordination already have projects under construction.
Implications & Outlook
Near term, the congress will accelerate frontier results into projects, with low-altitude economy, green hydrogen and compute–power coordination emerging as growth poles. Medium term, multi-energy complementarity and new power-system build-out will push energy from “big region” to “strong region,” with materials self-reliance as the competitive focus.
Takeaways for Industry Participants
- Energy firms should build system-integration capabilities across the wind–solar–hydrogen–storage–vehicle chain.
- Materials firms can enter high-moat tracks: heat-resistant, long-life storage and rare-earth functional materials.
- Local governments and parks should compound policy, resource and market advantages into replicable zero-carbon models.
This column compiles industry information and shares technical perspectives; it does not constitute investment advice.