Panasonic Holdings, a Japanese electronics and battery maker, said it plans to start mass production of battery cells for data center applications at its Kansas plant in fiscal 2028, which ends in March 2029.

The company will allocate 350 billion yen (US$938 million) of its previously announced 500 billion yen AI infrastructure investment for fiscal 2026-2028 to its Energy unit, which supplies Tesla.

The remaining 150 billion yen will go to its Industry segment.

Panasonic Energy also plans to build a third plant in Mexico, with mass production scheduled for fiscal 2028.

Panasonic Energy CEO Kazuo Tadanobu said the unit’s 950 billion yen (US$5.94 billion) sales target for data center-related energy storage systems in fiscal 2028 was a “minimum commitment”.

The company also said it would aim to lift sales above 1 trillion yen (US$6.25 billion).

The De Soto, Kansas, site is Panasonic Energy’s second North American battery factory.

It was originally planned for electric vehicle-focused 2170 cylindrical cells, with annual capacity expected to reach 88 gigawatt-hours before rising to 200 gigawatt-hours by early 2031.

In data centers, lithium-ion batteries are commonly used in uninterruptible power supply systems to keep equipment running during power loss, and can also be used for longer-duration onsite storage.

🔗 Source: Reuters

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