Intel will invest 80 billion in Europe, part of which in France

This is a massive investment that Intel will make in Europe. The American semiconductor giant unveiled on Tuesday March 15 a “historic” investment plan to produce electronic chips in Europe, which could reach up to 80 billion euros over ten years, with the flagship project of setting up in Germany of a manufacturing “mega-site”. The details of the announcements were eagerly awaited within the European Union (EU), which seeks to increase its sovereignty for the production of these essential components, from cars to smartphones, and whose supply, dominated by Asian manufacturers, is insufficient. The program includes 17 billion euros to install a state-of-the-art site in Germany, in Magdeburg (north-east), but also the creation of a research and development center in France, as well as investments in Ireland, Italy, Poland and Spain, with the aim of creating “a European chip ecosystem”, the group said in a press release.

The first phase of this plan is estimated at 33 billion euros. “We are responding to the global need for a more balanced and more resilient supply chain”, explained at a press conference the boss of Intel, Pat Gelsinger. Chips are the ‘brains that power essential digital technologies’, he said, citing the ‘risk of being dependent on one region’ as disruption to supply chains due to Covid has accentuated scarcity of semiconductors. Germany will take the lion’s share: the city of Magdeburg, capital of the Land of Saxony-Anhalt, located 130 kilometers west of Berlin, obtains the establishment of two production plants. The country is already home to the largest semiconductor ecosystem in Europe, with groups such as Bosch and Infineon.

Magdeburg, communication crossroads

The future site planned for 2027 will create “7,000 jobs for the construction phase, 3,000 permanent high-tech jobs at Intel and tens of thousands of additional jobs” at suppliers, according to the group. If Germany had been the favorite for several months already, the Dresden region (east), already hosting the big names in electronic chips, seemed the best placed. It is in particular the geographical location of Magdeburg at a communication crossroads in the center of Europe and the surface area available in this territory of former East Germany that convinced the American giant. “It takes enough steel to build 5 Eiffel Towers, enough concrete to fill 240 Olympic swimming pools” and a space comparable to “two World Cup football pitches” for this factory, explained Pat Gelsinger on Tuesday.

He said last year that the first two units could be completed by six others, comparing this future “mega-fab” to the development of a “small town”. This choice “shows that Germany is attractive for innovation and investment”, welcomed the Minister of Economy and Climate Robert Habeck, without revealing the amount of subsidies that the government will provide. The European Commission has in fact recently authorized 30 billion euros in public aid from the Member States to manufacturers in the semiconductor sector, including foreign groups, a decisive godsend for the choice of Intel, which is not lacking in remember that producing this type of component in Europe is 30 to 40% more expensive than in Asia.

France, home of HPC and AI

This measure is part of the EU’s desire to become a major player in the manufacture of electronic chips. In early February, Brussels presented a 43 billion euro plan to capture 20% of the global semiconductor market by 2030. Intel’s announcement “is the first major achievement” of this plan, hailed the president. from the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in a video message. end of 2024.

“France will become Intel’s European headquarters for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) design capabilities,” according to the group. R&D investments are also planned in Spain and Poland. In Ireland, it will be a question of doubling the manufacturing space of the Leixlip factory, for 12 billion euros. In Italy, discussions are underway to set up a final manufacturing plant, an investment of up to 4.5 billion euros for 1,500 jobs created.

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