There is a very common expression that almost all of us use: plant the egg. And that is precisely what it seems that Intel has done this week, since according to reports of the two FABs that it is going to create in Europe, the first already has a location and will be, how could it be otherwise given the investment, monstrous . Germany has the responsibility and the privilege of hosting one of the Intel’s FAB for the world’s most advanced chips in order to follow Moore’s Law. What will it be like and where exactly will it be built?
The EU Chip Law is going to bring with it a wave of millions of euros that no one wants to miss out on since it implies subsidies (with restrictions and closed agreements) so that the company that wants to build and locate itself in our territory does not have to invest so much money like doing it alone. Intel smells the meat and has launched to take the first bite, which will be in Magdeburg and according to the few leaked data it will be an impressive construction.
Intel and its chip FAB in Germany: Dresden vs. Magdeburg
Curiously, the struggle was between two cities less known by the common user and yet they are tremendously interesting from a tactical and logistical point of view. This without forgetting an important point that companies take more and more into account when making investments of this type: the proximity of talent and qualified personnel.
Magdeburg has beaten Dresden and Penzing for various reasons. The first is that Intel needs an amount of space, of available area that is difficult to select in current locations or technical areas in Europe and more so in Germany. The portion of land is so immense that it has no less than 300 hectares and based on the data provided on the land and the acquisition, we could say that we are facing a Mega FAB without a doubt within what is known as the Eulenberg Industrial Estate:
- Total gross area: 3,174,000 m²
- Largest contiguous area: 2,482,000.00 m²
- Of them non-developable area: 2,482,000 m²
- Largest available area: 2,482,000 m²
More than 1,000 direct jobs
That is the estimate that Intel has at this time given the more than 300 hectares in total that it needs for its Mega FAB. Logically, these are direct jobs and therefore there are no indirect ones, which will be thousands more, since from now on the industrial estate will see how the number of companies expands to capture the volume of logistics, materials and personnel that Intel needs. .
Having said this and seeing the immense infrastructure that is needed, the second Intel FAB in Europe remains a mystery, since there are several interested countries, among them it seems that Italy and Spain, where it seems that the country of the boot is offering better conditions for now.
However, it will be the subsidies of the EU Chip Law that set the tone to follow, because it seems that depending on the strategic location, more or less quantity of them is unlocked.
According to rumors, the fact that there are infrastructures and representative companies for Intel’s interests is key, but also that there are universities linked to IT to be able to extract direct talent. In this aspect, Barcelona and Valencia could have some advantage, but the huge extension of land could be their problem. Italy has the advantage of already having Intel representation in that country, so it will not be easy to beat our neighbors in this fight.
