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The Polish plant will complement Intel’s existing wafer fabrication facility in Leixlip among its other European operations.
Semiconductor chip player Intel is investing $4.6bn in a new chip plant in Poland to cater to anticipated demand for its products from the European market.
The facility’s construction plans are subject to approval from the European Commission. Europe is currently trying to battle its way out of a semiconductor chip shortage.
The planned plant will create up to 2,000 jobs when it is completed. Based in Wroclaw, it will be an assembly and test centre for Intel’s chips. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said the facility would work together with its Irish and other European operations to boost the European region’s chip supply chain.
“Poland is already home to Intel operations and is well positioned to work with Intel sites in Germany and Ireland. It is also very cost-competitive with other manufacturing locations globally and offers a great talent base that we are excited to help to grow,” said Gelsinger. He added that he was “grateful for the support from Poland”. The company has been in Poland for around three decades and has a large R&D centre in Gdansk with close to 4,000 staff members.
Intel has a wafer fabrication facility in Leixlip, Co Kildare which is a major centre for its EU operations. It is planning another similar centre in Magdeburg in Germany. The wafer fabrication centres create chips on silicon wafers through chemical, mechanical and optical processes.
Test and assembly sites like the planned Wroclaw plant take the wafers from the fabrication centres and shape them into products that are tested for quality before being shipped to customers.
In 2019, the company got the go-ahead to plan further growth for its Irish operations as it celebrated its 30th year in Ireland. It announced massive expansion plans in 2021, including the creation of 1,600 jobs.
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