TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The board of directors for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) on Tuesday (Aug. 8) approved a plan for a joint-venture to construct a fab in Dresden, Germany.
TSMC will jointly invest with Bosch, Infineon Technologies, and NXP Semiconductors to form European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., according to a TSMC statement. The joint-venture will be 70% owned by TSMC, while Bosch, Infineon, and NXP will each have a 10% equity stake.
The total cost of the fab is expected to exceed 10 billion euros (NT$348 billion) and will consist of equity injection, debt borrowing, and support from the E.U. and German governments. TSMC’s board approved an equity investment of no more than 3.49 billion euros for the project.
TSMC will operate the fab, which will have a monthly production capacity of 40,000 300mm (12-inch) wafers. It will produce 22/28 nm and 12/16 nm chips for the automotive and industrial sectors.
The final investment decision will depend on the level of public funding for the project, which is being planned under the European Chips Act framework. Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2024, with commercial production slated to begin by the end of 2027.
According to earlier reports from German paper Handelsblatt, the German government will provide 5 billion euros for the project.