By Antonis Pothitos
Chipmakers: (Reuters) – The European Union is seeking to bolster semiconductor production after a global shortage over the past two years.
Under the European Chips Act, the European Commission earmarked early last year a total of 15 billion euros ($16 billion) for public and private semiconductor projects by 2030.
Below are some of the chipmakers’ plans for factories in Europe, in alphabetical order:
The maker of chips used in cars and data won approval to begin work on a 5 billion euro semiconductor plant in the German city of Dresden, it said on Feb. 16.
Production is due to start in 2026.
Intel:
In March 2022, Intel picked the German city of Magdeburg as the site for its new mega chip manufacturing complex, a key part of its $88 billion investment drive across Europe.
Business daily Handelsblatt reported on Feb. 8 that Intel wants 10 billion euros of government funding for that factory.
It is also in talks with Italy for an advanced packaging and assembly plant, using new technologies to weave together full chips out of tiles.
STMicroelectronics:
The Franco-Italian company said in October it plans to build a 730 million euro silicon carbide wafer plant in Italy. Building is due to be complete in 2026.
It also announced plans in July to build a semiconductor factory in France in partnership with GlobalFoundries.
The facility, which will be next to STM’s existing plant in Crolles, is targeted to reach full capacity by 2026.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (TSMC): According to a Financial Times report in December, TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is in advanced talks with suppliers about setting up its first European plant in the German city of Dresden.
“We do not rule out any possibility but there is no concrete plan at this time,” TSMC said in a statement.
Wolfspeed Inc:The U.S. chipmaker will build a $3-billion electric vehicle chip plant and a research and development centre in Germany, it said on Feb. 1.
Production is planned to start in 2027 in the German state of Saarland, with Wolfspeed’s Chief Executive Gregg Lowe telling Reuters the plant is expected to rank as the world’s biggest production facility for chips made out of silicon carbide.
($1 = 0.9343 euros)
