Panasonic to invest $2 billion in data center battery push, ramp up U.S. manufacturing - pv magazine USA

Panasonic's latest move to expand data-center battery manufacturing underscores its strategy to capture surging AI-driven demand for high-capacity power storage. The company plans to invest 350 billion yen ($2 billion) to accelerate its domestic and North American supply chains, a plan disclosed at its Investors Day in Tokyo on June 8. The roadmap includes opening a data-center production line at the Kansas battery-cell facility, adding a second and third data-center module site in Mexico, and tripling Japan's battery-cell output by fiscal year 2029, aided by repurposing the Osaka vehicle line to produce lithium-ion cells and supercapacitors. These actions illustrate Panasonic's goal of providing robust backup and peak-shaving capabilities for high-voltage data centers that rely on rapid, reliable power support.