ST and GlobalFoundries are to build a 300mm fab at Crolles.
The fab will support a range of technologies, including FDSOI, down to 18nm.
There will be significant financial support from France for the project which is costing $5.7 billion.
The fab is targeted to ramp to full capacity by 2026, with up to 620,000 300mm wafer per year production at full build-out (~42% ST and ~58% GF).
The fab will contribute to the objectives of the European Chips Act, including the goal of Europe reaching 20% of worldwide semiconductor production by 2030.
In will support the European Technology ecosystem from R&D (with the recently announced cooperation on R&D among ST, GF, CEA-Leti and Soitec) to large-volume manufacturing, and support European and global customers with additional capacity in advanced technologies for key end-markets including automotive, industrial, IoT, and communication infrastructure.
It will generate additional employment at the ST Crolles site (approximately 1,000 additional staff for the new manufacturing facility) and across its ecosystem of partners, suppliers and stakeholders.
“This new manufacturing facility will support our $20 billion+ revenue ambition. Working with GF will allow us to go faster, lower the risk thresholds, and reinforce the European FD-SOI ecosystem. We will have more capacity to support our European and global customers as they transition to digitalization and decarbonization” says ST CEO Jean-Marc Chery, “ST is transforming its manufacturing base. We already have a unique position in our 300mm wafer fab in Crolles, France which will be further strengthened by today’s announcement. We continue to invest into our new 300mm wafer fab in Agrate (near Milan, Italy), ramping up in H1 2023 with an expected full saturation by end 2025, as well as in our vertically integrated silicon carbide and gallium nitride manufacturing.”
“Our customers are seeking broad access to 22FDX capacity for auto and industrial applications,” says GloFo CEO Dr Thomas Caulfield, “the new facility will include GF dedicated foundry capacity for our customers offering GF’s unique innovation and will be managed by GF personnel onsite. This jointly operated, new manufacturing capacity expansion leverages ST’s Crolles existing facility infrastructure enabling GF to accelerate our growth while benefiting from economies of scale to deliver additional capacity in a highly capital efficient manner on our differentiated 22FDX platform, that has shipped more than one billion chips. With today’s announcement, we are expanding GF’s presence within Europe’s dynamic technology ecosystem and reinforcing our position as the leading semiconductor foundry in Europe. Our global footprint enables GF to not only meet our customers capacity needs but also provides them supply chain security. The partnership investment with the French government, along with our long-term customer agreements, creates the right economic model for GF’s investment.”
