BRUSSELS, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Thursday approved German state aid in the amount of 920 million euros (966 million U.S. dollars) for constructing a new Infineon semiconductor manufacturing plant in Dresden.
"This new manufacturing plant will bring flexible production capacity to the European Union (EU) and thereby strengthen Europe's security of supply, resilience and technological autonomy in semiconductor technologies," the Commission said in a statement.
The total investment in the new plant, which will reach its full capacity in 2031, will amount to 3.5 billion euros.
The plant will produce discrete power technologies used for control in electronic systems, as well as analog/mixed-signal integrated circuits needed to bridge the gap between analog and digital worlds. The semiconductors will be used in industrial, automotive and consumer applications.
Recent studies showed that Europe lags behind China and the United States in almost all critical technologies, including semiconductors. The EU hopes to bridge this gap in the coming years.
The Commission previously approved support for STMicroelectronics' two SiC facilities in Italy, a French aid measure for STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries, a German measure for European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, and an Italian measure for Silicon Box's advanced packaging and testing facility. (1 euro = 1.05 U.S. dollar) ■
