The European Commission said it has approved €659 million in German State aid to support the establishment of four first-of-a-kind facilities in the semiconductor value chain.

The Commission said: “The measures will contribute to strengthening the EU’s position and autonomy in the semiconductor value chain by supporting the construction of first-of-a-kind facilities, in line with the objectives set out in the Commission’s Communication ‘A Chips Act for Europe’ and the Commission’s 2024-2029 Political Guidelines.”

Germany will provide direct grants for the construction of these semiconductor facilities:

• €353 million for the SME Element 3-5 GmbH for a facility in Baesweiler, North Rhine-Westphalia for the manufacturing of silicon carbide (SiC) epi-wafers
• €214 million for Vishay Siliconix Itzehoe GmbH for a facility in Itzehoe, Schleswig-Holstein, for the manufacturing of N- and P-channel Silicon Power MOSFETs
• €74.4 million for KLA-Tencor MIE GmbH for a facility in Weilburg, Hesse, for the manufacturing of advanced optical overlay and film metrology equipment
• €17.9 million for KETEK GmbH for a facility in Munich, Bavaria, for the manufacturing of two highly-specialised chips: Silicon Drift Detectors and Graphene Radiation Entry Windows

All four measures are jointly financed by the federal budget and the respective Länder authorities.