TSMC, Robert Bosch GmbH, Infineon Technologies AG and NXP have broken ground on Europe's first FinFET foundry.

ESMC, a joint venture of TSMC, Bosch, Infineon and NXP, held a groundbreaking ceremony in Dresden, Germany on the 20th to officially mark the initial steps in preparing the land for its first semiconductor fab.

At the event, European Commission President von der Leyen announced that the European Commission had approved a €5 billion bill to support European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC) in the construction and operation of semiconductor fabs, in accordance with EU state aid rules.

CC Wei, Chairman and CEO of TSMC “Together with our partners Bosch, Infineon and NXP, we are building the Dresden facility to meet the semiconductor demand from the fast-growing European automotive and industrial sectors,” said Wei. “With this state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, we will bring TSMC’s advanced manufacturing capabilities within reach of our European customers and partners, stimulating economic development across the region and driving technological advancements across Europe.”

Once fully operational, it is expected to be able to produce 40,000 300mm (12-inch) wafers per month based on TSMC's 28/22nm planar CMOS and 16/12nm FinFET process technologies.

It is also expected to further strengthen Europe's semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem with advanced FinFET transistor technology.

The total investment is expected to exceed €10 billion, consisting of equity injections, debt financing and strong support from the European Union (EU) and German governments.

“Our joint investment in Dresden underscores once again the enormous importance of Silicon Saxony as a magnet for leading international semiconductor manufacturers,” said Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon Technologies AG. “The construction of another semiconductor manufacturing facility by ESMC in Dresden has been a great success for the region. We are bringing particularly important semiconductor technologies for the most modern digital chips to Europe. This investment will create additional jobs and permanently strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem in Silicon Saxony, Germany and Europe as a whole.”