Nissan mulls electric car battery plant in Portugal

LISBON Mar 2 (Reuters) - Japan's Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) and the Portuguese government on Monday signed an agreement to study investing between 300 million and 400 million euros in a plant in Portugal to produce batteries for electric cars.

The letter of intent follows a pioneering deal last November between the Portuguese government, Nissan and its French partner Renault (RENA.PA) to build 1,300 charging stations for electric cars by the end of 2011. The car-making alliance will start deliveries of its electric cars to Portugal in early 2011.

Lithium-ion batteries, used in laptop computers and mobile phones, are seen as key to improving the performance of electric vehicles, which automakers hope will sharpen their competitive edge as demand for cars falters around the world.

"The plant will probably produce around 50,000 batteries per year and may create around 300 jobs," said Carlos Tavares, Nissan's Executive Vice-President.

He added that Nissan plans to have battery production factories in the United States, Europe and China, adding to the one it is currently building in Japan, but did not provide the total expected investment in the factories.

Nissan is also still considering several other European countries for the battery factory, with government incentives for financing being an important criterion "as access to credit is currently extremely difficult everywhere", he said. "We now have three months to work together (before the selection process in June), but what is obvious that we have a convergence with this government on a vision regarding zero-emission, which is an advantage for Portugal", he said.

Portuguese Economy Minister Manuel Pinho said the business model for the charging network is still being studied, but added that the Portuguese state will participate in the project through energy companies in which it has stakes, such as EDP (EDP.LS), Galp (GALP.LS) and REN REN.LS. (Reporting by Shrikesh Laxmidas; Editing by David Cowell)