Over the weekend there were several reports that the US chip manufacturer Wolfspeed could build a fab in Saarland. However, question marks remain, because on the one hand some of the numbers mentioned do not quite match, and on the other hand Wolfspeed is currently building and expanding massively in the USA. In the end, as usual, it should be about the money.
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According to the Handelsblatt, for example, it will be the largest plant for silicon carbide. A sum of 2 billion euros and more is thrown into the room. The SR also reports that up to 1,000 jobs could be created. However, the start of production is not scheduled for four years; before that, the site on which an old power plant stands is to be cleared over the next two years.
But this is exactly where the first discrepancies appear. Because in the USA, Wolfspeed announced a huge complex for the production of silicon carbide last autumn, which not only involves an investment of up to 5 billion US dollars, but is also intended to hire 1,800 new employees. This project has been listed in the relevant investor reports for some time, and the capacity of the previous smaller plants is to be exceeded by a factor of 10 or more. This new construction follows the commissioning of another new complex last spring.
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Chatham County, here we come. On 9/9, we announced @Wolfspeed's plan to expand into Chatham County with a new materials #manufacturing facility that will create 1,800 new jobs. Phase 1 of the facility is scheduled for completion by 2024. Read more: https://t.co/G6AsA4vb4x pic.twitter.com/YW57UAUMEK
— Wolfspeed, Inc. (@Wolfspeed) September 27, 2022
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It's all a question of money
Of course, Wolfspeed once again chose the USA because of subsidies. According to media reports, 1.0 to 1.3 billion US dollars in subsidies were guaranteed by the state of North Carolina at the time, with potential for upwards depending on the expansion stage. The US Chips Act should also be suitable for this, so that in the end at least 40, if not up to 50 percent of the sum could come from public funds.
Exactly these percentages must will probably also be associated with a possible settlement in Germany. On paper, the cap is usually around 40 percent. And this is where the dispute often only begins, as was often discussed recently with Intel and the planned new Fab building in Magdeburg.
In Germany, Intel has recently had more or less criticism reported on the circumstances and the subsidies, although all the figures are not yet in dry cloths. In an interview with Die Zeit, Intel exaggerated that it was simply not possible to work here with electricity costs of up to 50 cents per kilowatt hour. However, the report does not make it clear that no major industrial customer in this category pays these prices. Here, too, the saber-rattling only serves to get even more subsidies and funding.