Prevent another chip crisis from happening again to bring the world to a standstill. This is the objective of different companies and governments, now launched in the creation of new manufacturing plants. The global shortage of chips, which has affected the production of electronic devices for over a year, it’s still going strong and it’s far from over.
In Italy, Intel and the outgoing government headed by Mario Draghi have chosen the city of Vigasio, in the Veneto region, as the site of what will be the new large chip factory that will house the transalpine country. An investment framed within the general investment that Intel already announced last March of up to €80 billion over the next decade for capacity building across Europe.
This first phase includes investments, apart from Italy, in other countries such as Spain, Germany, France, Ireland and Poland. Destinations that will also receive funding to improve their infrastructure and turn Europe into a next-generation chip ecosystem.
“This wide-ranging initiative will boost Europe’s R&D innovation and bring cutting-edge manufacturing to the region for the benefit of our customers and partners around the world. We are committed to playing a critical role in shaping Europe’s digital future for decades to come,” said Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel.
This will be the Intel chip plant in Italy
Specific, the American chipmaker will invest in the Italian plant about 4,500 million euros. A new factory that will also create 1,500 direct jobs and 3,500 indirect jobs and that will start operating between 2025 and 2027. It will be an advanced semiconductor packaging and assembly plant, using new technologies to weave complete chips. The Italian government could finance up to 40% of the total investment.
The choice of Vigasio is not accidental. The city is located near Verona, on the strategic Brenner highway and railway. It is also very well connected to Germany and in particular to the city of Magdeburg, where Intel will build two more factories. Veneto has beaten other regions initially considered as Lombardy, Apulia and Sicily.
For boost domestic chip manufacturingRome is also in talks with Franco-Italian STMicroelectronics, Taiwanese chipmakers MEMC Electronic Materials Inc and TSMC, and Israeli Tower Semiconductor, which Intel bought earlier this year.
