onsemi announces $2bn SiC facility in the Czech Republic
US chip maker onsemi says the planned expansion will produce power semiconductors designed to improve the energy efficiency of applications in electric vehicles, renewable energy and AI data centres.
onsemi is already committed to manufacturing in the Czech Republic. It operates a facility in the Zlín region dedicated to silicon crystal growth, and silicon carbide wafer manufacturing (polished and EPI). Today, the Roznov site can produce more than three million wafers a year, including more than one billion power devices.
Now, onsemi is committed to expanding the facility with a multi-year brownfield investment of up to USD 2 billion. It will be one of the largest private sector investments in the Czech Republic’s history and will certainly buoy a European chip sector desperate to claw back some leverage in the global market.
"Our brownfield investment would establish a Central European supply chain to better service our customers’ rapidly increasing demand for innovative technologies that improve the energy efficiency in their applications," said Hassane El-Khoury, president and CEO, onsemi. "Through a close collaboration with the Czech government, the expansion would also enhance our production of intelligent power semiconductors that are essential to helping ensure the European Union is able to achieve its ambitions to significantly reduce carbon emissions and environmental impact."
