GlobalFoundries to Invest $12B in Chip Plant Expansion
GlobalFoundries is planning to invest more than $11.6 billion over the next decade to expand its existing Fab 8 semiconductor manufacturing site in Saratoga County. The initiative will address the growing demand for chips, while creating more than 1,500 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs.
The project will also leverage a significant federal investment through the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. The U.S. Department of Commerce will provide $1.5 billion in planned direct funding to GlobalFoundries, enabling the company to securely produce more essential chips for automotive, IoT, aerospace, defense and other vital markets.
The $1.5 billion potential investment will support the expansion of GlobalFoundries’ Malta, N.Y., facility, including the construction of a new 358,000-square-foot fab, as well as the modernization of its facility in Essex Junction, Vt.
READ ALSO: Industrial Sector Set for 2024 Transformation
An additional $575 million in New York State Green CHIPS funding, plus a further $45 million in other state benefits, such as workforce development and infrastructure upgrades, are planned over the 10-year term of GF’s New York projects. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Green CHIPS program into law in August 2022.
That was the same week that President Joe Biden signed into law the $280 billion federal CHIPS and Science Act, which authorized roughly $39 billion in subsidies specifically for chip manufacturing on U.S. soil.
The proposed federal funding will support three GF projects:
• Expansion of GF’s existing Malta, N.Y., fab by adding critical technologies already in production in GF’s Singaporean and German facilities. This expansion aims to ensure supply chain resilience for the growing demand for semiconductor chips and their delivery to GF’s automotive customers including General Motors.
• Construction of a new state-of-art fab on the Malta campus to meet expected customer demand for U.S.-made chips across a broad range of markets and applications including automotive, aerospace, defense and AI. The new fab, which has already been granted some necessary permitting, will leverage the site’s existing infrastructure. Construction is expected to begin in 2025. The new fab, combined with the expansion of GF’s existing facility at the site, is expected to triple the capacity of the Malta campus over the next 10-plus years.
• Modernization of GF’s longest continuously operated fab, and the nation’s first and largest Trusted 200mm facility, in Essex Junction, Vt. The upgrade and expansion reportedly will create the first U.S. facility capable of high-volume manufacturing of next-generation gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors.
Microchips, macro money
In a prepared statement, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a strong advocate for the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, noted that this is the largest award to date from the CHIPS program.
Earlier this week, Commercial Property Executive reported on a new white paper from Newmark and NAIOP, which highlights the roles of both federal funding and growth of the high-tech sector, including semiconductors, as drivers of U.S. manufacturing’s resurgence.
The post GlobalFoundries to Invest $12B in Chip Plant Expansion appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.
