A few weeks ago, I wrote a note titled How many industries will data centers breathe life into?
Something exciting I’ve seen today is an announcement from Panasonic saying they will convert some of the production lines at their EV batteries plant in DeSoto, Kansas, into producing batteries that can be used as energy backups for data centers. These lines are expected to produce cells for data center-specific batteries starting in 2028.
The data center energy storage business is not completely new for Panasonic. Their Energy business reported 13% higher sales in FY26, compared with FY25, largely due to “higher sales of energy storage systems for data center in the Industrial / Consumer business, despite a lower sales in the In-vehicle business.” (Fiscal 2026 Financial Results, published May 12 2026)
The June announcement is about doubling down on the DC energy storage bet.
The Kansas plant will supply cells, whereas module production will happen in Mexico and Japan (which also has cell production lines).
Here’s their latest update for supporting AI infra (src: Fiscal 2026 Financial Results, published May 12 2026):
in the businesses supporting AI infrastructure, Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd. plans to utilize some of its automotive battery production lines to manufacture lithium-ion battery cells for data centers, in addition to expanding production lines at its existing facilities in Japan. For energy storage modules, it decided to enhance existing production lines at its factory in Mexico and to build a new factory at a nearby location, in addition to expanding production capacity in Japan. Furthermore, Panasonic Industry Co., Ltd. announced the expansion of production lines at its factory in Ayutthaya, Thailand, scheduled to begin operations in fiscal 2028, as well as at its factory in Guangzhou, China, strengthening its supply system for electronic materials for AI servers
More in the US Data Centers briefing today from Telborg: https://telborg.com/datacentre-briefings/188
We’re also sharing the premium briefing today with a few users. Send me a DM/email if you’d like a copy of the PDF.
IMP: This post was written by me. The Telborg briefings are generated with AI, using extensive behind-the-scenes plumbing to ensure everything we put there is grounded in real facts and data. We spend much time and lots of AI tokens on keeping this rigor. More on Telborg.com
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