Pure-play foundry GlobalFoundries Inc. (GF) and ST Microelectronics (ST) have concluded an agreement to create a jointly operated, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing fab in Crolles, France.
Originally announced in July of last year, the two companies will build and operate a 300 mm semiconductor facility to support fully depleted silicon on insulator (FD SOI)-based technologies.
The fab will be built adjacent to ST’s existing 300 mm facility also in Crolles. The companies are aiming to ramp to full capacity at the fab by 2026, generating up to 620,000 300 mm wafers per year. Of this, about 58% of the wafers will be used by GF and about 42% of the wafers will be used by ST.
The overall project is slated to cost about $8 billion for capital expenditure, maintenance and ancillary costs. The facility will get significant financial support from the French government under its “France 2030” plan as well as aid from the European Chips Act, which is designed to accelerate chip making in the region with an investment of $47 billion.
Since the inception of the European Chips Act, numerous companies have pledged to build new facilities in the region outside of this deal. These include:
- WolfSpeed’s first European fab in Germany.
- Bosch expanding its fabs to the tune of $463 million.
- A back-end facility from GF in Dresden, Germany.
- Intel’s new semiconductor fab in Magdeburg, Germany.
Jean-Marc Chery, president and CEO of ST, said the joint fab will “further reinforce the European and French FD-SOI ecosystem” for “key end-markets including automotive, industrial, IoT and communication infrastructure.” Chery added the facility will support ST’s $20 billion plus revenue ambition.
