Recently, several media reported that Wolfspeed, a semiconductor manufacturer, plans to build a semiconductor factory in Salzburg, Germany. The report also said that the factory is expected to become the largest silicon carbide semiconductor factory in the world after completion.

Now, this news has been confirmed by Wolfspeed. On February 2 local time, Wolfspeed announced on its official website that it planned to build the world's largest and most advanced silicon carbide device manufacturing plant in Salzburg, Germany, to support the growing demand for various automotive, industrial and energy applications.

It is reported that the plant will become the first plant of Wolfspeed in Europe and the most advanced plant of Wolfspeed, which will increase the company's existing capacity by more than 10 times. The first phase of the project will be completed by the end of fiscal year 2024.

Wolfspeed said that the plant will become an important part of the company's $6.5 billion capacity expansion plan together with the completed 200 mm Mohawk Valley device factory and the John Palmour silicon carbide manufacturing center under construction.

As for the investment amount of the project, Wolfspeed did not mention it in the press release, but Bloomberg reported that the total investment amount of the project would reach 3 billion dollars.

In addition, Wolfspeed also announced the establishment of a strategic partnership with ZF, an auto parts supplier. ZF will invest in Wolfspeed and build a joint research and development center for silicon carbide in Germany. After obtaining the approval of the European Commission, the plant construction is expected to start in the first half of 2023.

Silicon carbide ushers in "highlight moment"

In recent years, driven by the development of new energy vehicles, 5G, the Internet of Things and other industries, the market demand for silicon carbide has gradually increased, especially with the increasing demand of new energy industries such as electric vehicles, photovoltaic and wind power for high-power, low-power and small-volume power devices, silicon carbide has also ushered in its "high-light moment".

TrendForce Chibang Consulting estimates that the market size of SiC power components for vehicles will reach US $1.07 billion in 2022, and will climb to US $3.94 billion by 2026. In the face of huge market demand, the global silicon carbide market has led the wave of production expansion.

In China, according to the incomplete statistics of the compound semiconductor market, in 2022 alone, the investment amount of new projects/signed silicon carbide projects in China will exceed 47.6 billion.

Internationally, the major giants have spared no effort to build factories and expand production. In addition to Wolfspeed's official announcement to build the factory, Jean-Marc Chery, president and CEO of Italian and French Semiconductor, also said at the latest financial report meeting recently that it plans to invest about US $4 billion in capital expenditure in 2023, mainly to expand the 12-inch wafer factory and silicon carbide capacity.

South Korean President Yoon Hyatt said that in order to promote the development of the semiconductor industry, the localization of materials, parts and equipment should be accelerated, and the price of memory chips and the weakening of demand caused by the economic downturn should be pre-emptively dealt with. Yin Xiyue further said that the factory would help to realize the localization of semiconductor materials and ensure the stability of the supply chain.

Infineon said that in the next few years, there will be huge business opportunities for renewable energy power generation and energy storage, electric vehicles and related infrastructure. Italy France Semiconductor also said that "as long as silicon carbide can be used in new cars, traditional power devices will not be used".