Semiconductor giant Intel announces massive investment plan in Europe for US$ 87,604.8 million

The American semiconductor giant Intel revealed a historic investment plan of up to 80,000 million euros (US $ 87,604.8 million) in the European Union (EU) in ten years to produce microchips, and the implementation in Germany of a manufacturing “megasite” .

The detail of these announcements was highly anticipated within the EU, which seeks to increase its sovereignty in the production of these essential components for cars or smartphones, and whose supply – dominated by Asian manufacturers – is insufficient.

The program includes 17,000 million euros to install a site in Germany, in Magdeburg (northeast), but also the creation of a research and development center in France, as well as investments in R&D in Ireland, Italy, Poland or Spain, with the aim of creating a “European microchip ecosystem,” the group said in a statement.

“We respond to the global need for a more balanced and resilient supply chainIntel President Pat Gelsinger explained.

Microchips are thebrains fueling essential digital technologies” he said, and alluded to the “risk of being dependent on a single region”, when the disruption of logistics chains due to COVID accentuated the scarcity of these components.

Germany takes the lion’s share: the city of Magdeburg, located 130 km west of Berlin, obtains the installation of two factories. The country is already home to the largest semiconductor ecosystem in Europe, with groups such as Bosch or Infineon.

The future site, planned for 2027, will create “7,000 jobs for the construction phase, 3,000 permanent high-tech jobs at Intel and dozens of additional jobs” among suppliers, depending on the group.

The European Commission (EC) had recently authorized 30,000 million euros of public aid from the Member States to industrialists in the semiconductor sector, including foreigners, a decisive investment for the choice made by Intel, despite the fact that producing this type of component in Europe is 30% to 40% more expensive than in Asia.

Intel’s announcementis the first major realization” of the European plan, congratulated the president of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, in a video message.