Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd., a Panasonic Group Company, announced that the company completed a project to relocate its dry battery factory and that the Nishikinohama Factory (Kaizuka City, Osaka) today launched full-scale production of AA, AAA, C, and D alkaline batteries.
This CO2-free factory which makes effective use of clean energy is the company’s only dry battery production site in Japan. It manufactures high-quality dry batteries, including EVOLTA NEO, which was recognized as the “Longest lasting AA alkaline (LR6) battery cell” by Guinness World Records™ title, and supplies products mainly to the domestic market.
This year, Panasonic’s energy related business marked the 100th anniversary from 1923, when (the then) Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works marketed the bullet-shaped battery-powered bicycle lamp and the Excel Dry Battery for the lamp. Since the launch of in-house production of dry batteries in 1931, the company has continued to meet demand for dry batteries in Japan mainly from the Moriguchi Factory, where the company is headquartered. Panasonic Energy’s dry batteries are widely used as an energy source that can be used anytime, anywhere to underpin the “happiness in our daily lives” and as an emergency energy source in the event of disasters, which have occurred increasingly frequently in recent years. Panasonic Energy also deploys its business globally. In 2020, it became the first Japanese company to ship a cumulative total of 200 billion dry batteries worldwide.
With production at the Moriguchi Factory, which had met domestic demand for over 90 years, terminated, a new factory has been set up at the Nishikinohama Industrial Park in Kaizuka City, Osaka Prefecture. In addition to a smart production system that incorporates automated transfer and automated warehousing systems, the factory realizes a clean, safe, secure, and attractive workplace and will fulfill its responsibility to supply products to the domestic market into the future. To realize environmentally friendly manufacturing, the factory takes full advantage of renewable energy by installing solar panels all over the rooftop. It achieves net zero CO2 emissions from fiscal year ending March 2024, when its operation commenced. In fiscal year ending March 2025, pure hydrogen fuel cell generators and energy storage systems will be introduced to ensure energy management of the entire factory, thereby further accelerating efficient and clean manufacturing.
The factory will also focus on harmony with society. The factory tours and battery school for children, in which more than one million elementary school students participated in total from their launch in 1966, have been upgraded. Going forward, the factory will be further opened to the public to enhance ties with the community.