The US chip manufacturer Wolfspeed is to build a new SiC wafer fab together with Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen (ZF) - in Saarland.
A big celebrity boost in small Ensdorf near Saarlouis: Federal Chancellor Scholz, Saarland Minister President Anke Rehlinger, Federal Minister of Economics Habeck and Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe were on site on February 1 to officially celebrate the agreement between the US manufacturer of SiC chips Wolfspeed and the German automotive supplier ZF Friedrichshafen. ZF CEO Holger Klein and board member Stephan von Schuckmann were also present. The project had already been announced and widely commented on in mid-January. So now there is no turning back. It is assumed that the subsidies, including a federal grant of a quarter of the investment, will roll in as hoped. The land for the Fab on the 40-hectare site of an abandoned coal-fired power plant is being contributed by the Saarland.
The new 200-mm SiC wafer fab is set to become the world's largest production facility for silicon carbide components for power electronics when it goes into operation as planned in 2027, giving Europe an important position in innovative next-generation semiconductors. Accordingly, the site is to be subsidized with generous national and EU funding as part of the IPCEI ('Important Project of Common European Interest') for technology development. The demand for SiC chips, especially from the European automotive industry, is guaranteed.
A win for the Saarland
Wolfspeed has already initiated a significant capacity expansion of its Mohawk Valley Fab in North Carolina for 200 mm SiC wafers in 2022, with the first construction phase there scheduled for completion by the end of 2024. Wolfspeed plans to invest a total of 6.5 billion dollars. The European SiC fab is part of this expansion program. ZF intends to contribute a significant amount to the construction of the new SiC Fab in Ensdorf as part of its strategic partnership, which has existed since 2019, and, according to reports, a minority share of just under €200 million. This is a good fit, as ZF already has a transmission production facility with almost 10,000 employees in the region and thus offers personnel and technology resources for a workforce of 600 planned for the final expansion (in around four years) right from the start. A SiC research center financed by ZF is also to be built. In view of the structural change in its long-established automotive and supplier industry, the new fab is definitely a gain for Saarland.
"This new fab is a big step forward for Wolfspeed and our regional customers," says Gregg Lowe. "Silicon carbide devices are essential to the global move towards sustainable electrification. It is important for us to have manufacturing in Europe to support collaboration on the next generation of silicon carbide technologies." Silicon carbide enables more compact and lighter system designs for countless clean energy applications.
