NEC To Double Output Capacity For Household Storage Batteries

TOKYO (Nikkei)--NEC Corp. (6701) said Thursday that it will boost production capacity for household power storage systems by 100% to 20,000 units a year by the end of fiscal 2013.

Subsidiary NEC Computertechno began manufacturing lithium ion batteries at a plant in the city of Kofu that same day, and plans to double the facility's annual capacity by adding a second dedicated production line.

NEC had been making lithium ion batteries at its Sagamihara factory in Kanagawa Prefecture, before moving the operation to the Yamanashi Prefecture plant. Its longer-term plans for the Kofu site include making midsize and large power storage systems for utilities and other customers.

"We want to raise the production capacity to 100,000 units a year after several years," NEC Senior Vice President Takemitsu Kunio said at a news conference in Kofu.

Such an expansion will lower manufacturing costs by roughly 30% and make the products more competitive, according to Kunio.

(The Nikkei, Feb. 15 morning edition)

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