Wolfspeed picks North Carolina for new SiC material facility
Wolfspeed says that its new silicon carbide materials manufacturing facility will be located in Chatham County, strategically located near its existing Durham Materials factory. With the expansion the company is looking to increase its materials capacity by more than ten times.
Wolfspeed will build a new multi-billion-dollar SiC materials manufacturing facility in Chatham County, North Carolina. With the investment the company is targeting a 10-fold increase of its current Silicon Carbide production capacity stemming from its Durham campus.
“Demand for our products continues to grow at a rapid pace, and the industry continues to be supply constrained. Expanding our Materials production will further our market leadership and allow us to better serve the growing needs of our customers,” said Gregg Lowe, President and CEO of Wolfspeed, in a press release. “We are particularly excited and proud to not only expand Wolfspeed’s footprint in our home state of North Carolina, but also further our relationship with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to nurture our best-in-class talent pool.”
The facility will primarily produce 200mm Silicon Carbide wafers, which are 1.7x larger than 150mm wafers, translating into more chips per wafer and ultimately, lower device costs. These wafers will be used to supply Wolfspeed’s Mohawk Valley Fab, which opened earlier this year.
The company states that "phase one" construction is anticipated to be completed in 2024 and cost approximately USD 1.3 billion. Between 2024 and the end of the decade, Wolfspeed will add additional capacity as needed, eventually occupying more than one million square feet on the 445-acre site.
State and local funding, including a Job Development Investment Grant from the North Carolina Department of Commerce, will support the development of the facility’s first phase and represents an approximately USD 1.0 billion incentive package from the State, County and local governments. Over the next eight years, the company intends to continue to invest, looking to create roughly 1,800 jobs.
Wolfspeed also states that it intends to apply for federal funding from the CHIPS and Science Act to accelerate the construction and build-out of the facility.
