Today in Dresden (Germany) the ceremony of laying the first block in the foundation of the future plant of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. took place. (TSMC) worth €10 billion, Bloomberg reported. About half of this amount will be financed by government subsidies.
Construction of TSMC plant in Arizona Image source: TSMC
The ceremony was attended by TSMC CEO C.C. Wei with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the heads of Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors NV and Robert Bosch GmbH, each of which owns a 10 percent stake in joint venture ESMC. TSMC has 70% of the authorized capital in this enterprise, which will own this plant.
Germany plans to invest €20 billion in chip manufacturing, including co-financing the construction of a TSMC plant and a €10 billion subsidy for Intel Corp.’s upcoming plant. in Magdeburg. Ursula von der Leyen confirmed at the event that the EU had approved a subsidy for Germany to build a plant in Dresden. “Today we have approved a government subsidy for the project of approximately €5 billion,” she said.
The new facility will allow Europe to reduce its dependence on Asia for the import of vital technologies. The project’s launch was also boosted by German automakers including Volkswagen AG and Porsche AG expressing interest in increasing chip production in the country.
The plant is expected to be commissioned towards the end of 2027. It is expected that the plant will produce 28/22 nm chips using planar technology and 16/12 nm chips using FinFET technology. About 40,000 300 mm silicon wafers will be produced monthly.