Sony, Panasonic Put Finishing Touches on Lithium-Ion Battery Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources East Asia (Kofu-shi, Japan)--Japan has lost its lead in the lithium-ion battery race. Following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent power crisis, Japan slipped behind South Korea as production and industrial lines were disrupted throughout northeastern Japan. Even as production resumed, South Korea has managed to stay ahead with cost-effective batteries. Most of Japan's battery materials are made in the country, elevating the costs of the final product, while South Korea tends to import most of its materials from China. Despite domestic economic and energy troubles, Japanese battery makers are finishing up this year's round of battery projects.

Last week, Sony Energy Devices Corporation (Koriyama, Japan), a subsidiary of Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE) (Tokyo), completed its battery expansion project in Motomiya, Fukushima prefecture. The plant is not far from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station and is in the thick of a power-hungry service area provided for by Tohoku Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9506 ) (Tokuden) (Sendai, Japan), the hardest hit of Japan's power companies. Sony was already experiencing trouble due to the economic crisis of 2008, and was forced to delay the new expansion following March 11. The Motomiya site is an upstream plant that mainly deals in the production of electrodes, and the new expansion will help boost Sony's capacity to more than 200 million battery units per year.

Panasonic Corporation (NYSE:PC) (Osaka, Japan) is also looking forward to a battery project completion in the near future. The company completed its battery flagship plant in Osaka last year and is currently completing a second grassroot plant in the same vicinity. By the year's end, Panasonic's nickel-based lithium-ion battery capacity will be boosted by an additional 300 million units per year.

Lithium-ion battery production in Japan has the potential for serious expansion in the next few years as the country's quest for cleaner energy comes to fruition. While Sony and Panasonic focus on batteries for electronics and electric vehicles, respectively, batteries can also be utilized in the storage of electricity generated by solar panels.

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