Intel has presented plans for an assembly and test facility near Wrocław, Poland. The manufacturer is investing approximately $4.6 billion in the factory, which is expected to be operational by 2027.
According to Intel, the assembly and test facility is the final link in what the chipmaker calls an “end-to-end chain” of chip production in Europe. Wafers are produced in Ireland and later in Germany. The facility in Poland will process these wafers into individual chip dies, which will then be assembled into the final product. The testing section of the facility will ensure that everything is functioning properly. The factory will be able to assemble and test chips and wafers from Intel itself, Intel’s Foundry Services customers, and external foundries.
The new facility is expected to create around two thousand permanent jobs and thousands of construction jobs. Additionally, Intel’s largest R&D department in Europe, with four thousand employees, is located in the Polish city of Gdańsk. According to the Prime Minister of Poland, this investment is the “largest foreign greenfield investment” in the history of Poland.
Intel has been expanding its chip production capacity as part of its IDM 2.0 strategy. In addition to Poland, the company is also working on expansions in other European countries. Intel plans to build an advanced chip factory in Germany, as previously reported by Tweakers. The company also intends to establish an R&D location in France and potentially a packaging factory in Italy, although no concrete agreements have been made yet.
Intel is expected to seek subsidies from the Polish government for the construction of the assembly and test facility. This is possible under the European Chips Act, which was approved earlier this year. EU member states are collectively providing billions of subsidies for the construction of new chip factories. The amount of subsidy Intel will request for the Polish factory is unknown.