Wolfspeed announces construction of a state-of-the-art silicon carbide semiconductor manufacturing facility.
U.S. chipmaker Wolfspeed on Wednesday announced the construction of a silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor manufacturing plant. The company said the world’s largest and most advanced manufacturing facility for SiC semiconductors with a wafer size of 200 millimeters will be built in Ensdorf, Germany. More than 600 jobs would be created in the process, according to a press release. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economics Minister Robert Habeck were on hand to present the plans. Habeck described the project as an important signal for the attractiveness of Germany as a business location. Scholz commented that the project would bring the industrial revolution back to the region, which had long been dominated by the coal and steel industry.
German automotive supplier ZF, with whom Wolfspeed also announced a partnership on the future of silicon carbide semiconductor technology on Wednesday, will participate in the construction. The chip plant is expected to cost around 2.75 billion euros, according to German newspaper Handelsblatt, with Wolfspeed counting on a government subsidy of more than half a billion euros. However, the subsidies must first be approved by the European Commission. The approval is considered certain, reports Der Spiegel with reference to a well-informed source.
SiC semiconductor components are enjoying a sharp rise in demand, especially in the production of e-cars. They process electric current efficiently and enable, among other things, a greater range.
Photo: iStock/BeeBright
