The world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer has announced it will invest billions of euros in production and R&D across the EU in a move the European Commission has called the ‘first major achievement’ under its newly proposed ‘Chips Act’.
Intel Corporation has announced an investment program worth up to EUR 80 billion to boost its semiconductor manufacturing and R&D operations in the EU over the coming decade. In its initial phase of investment, the company will spend EUR 17 billion developing ‘a leading-edge semiconductor fab mega-site’ consisting of two new processor factories in the central city of Magdeburg on the Elbe river in Germany. The Silicon Valley giant has also pledged to create a new R&D and design hub in France, and to boost R&D, manufacturing and foundry services in Ireland, Italy, Poland and Spain. This first stage of investment will total more than EUR 30 billion.
The EU Chips Act
The move came a month after the European Commission announced the launch of the EU Chips Act which will see the bloc invest EUR 43 billion of public funds to support measures to boost its semiconductor capacity. The legislative proposal includes measures to ensure state-of-the-art fabrication facilities, like those planned by Intel, will benefit from enhanced state aid including efficient processing of administrative applications relating to planning, construction and operation.
“Our planned investments are a major step both for Intel and for Europe,” Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, said. “The EU Chips Act will empower private companies and governments to work together to drastically advance Europe’s position in the semiconductor sector. This broad initiative will boost Europe’s R&D innovation and bring leading-edge manufacturing to the region for the benefit of our customers and partners around the world. We are committed to playing an essential role in shaping Europe’s digital future for decades to come.”
“Intel’s €80 billion European investment plan is a first major achievement under the EU Chips Act,” European Commission Preisdent Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. “This is just the beginning.”
Magdeburg mega-fab
Construction will begin on the two new manufacturing facilities in Magdeburg in 2023, with production set to begin in 2027. The development should ultimately create 3,000 permanent high-tech jobs, in addition to 7,000 construction jobs over the course of the build.
According to the chipmaker, it was Germany’s position in the centre of Europe “with top talent, superb infrastructure and an existing ecosystem of suppliers and customers,” which made it the ideal place to establish a new semiconductor hub.
The new German site, which Intel has dubbed ‘Silicon Junction’, will not only produce the company’s newest generation of chips using its most-advanced transistor technologies, but will also manufacture chips for other companies – in line with the European Commission’s idea of ‘Open EU foundries’.
Italy & Ireland
As part of the EU project, the manufacturer will also undertake a EUR 12 billion upgrade of its existing foundry in Leixlip, Ireland with the aim of doubling production space at the site in order to make room for Intel 4 process technology.
Plans are also underway to build a 4.5 billion state-of-the-art back-end manufacturing facility in Italy. This factory would create 1,500 jobs at Intel, and an additional 3,500 jobs across suppliers and partners, with operations to start between 2025 and 2027, the company confirmed in a statement.
R&D and design
France looks set to become a European centre for R&D and chip design as the semiconductor giant also announced plans to establish both its new European R&D hub and its main European foundry design centre in the country. Its new R&D facility will be built around Plateau de Saclay (located southwest of Paris) and will create 1,000 new high-tech jobs. The design centre, meanwhile, will offer design services and design collaterals to industry partners and customers across Europe and the world.
“France will become Intel’s European headquarters for high performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) design capabilities,” Intel said in a press release. “HPC and AI innovation will benefit a broad set of industry sectors, including automotive, agriculture, climate, drug discovery, energy, genomics, life sciences and security – greatly improving the life of every European.”
In Gdansk, Poland, the company will expand lab space by 50% with a focus on developing solutions in the fields of deep neural networks, audio, graphics, data center and cloud computing. Further investment in the EU will also see it partner with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center to create joint labs, building on a decade-long collaboration with the Spanish research centre on exascale architecture.