“What is decided today is at the heart of the challenges that are ours, that of industrial sovereignty and reindustrialization, of the energy and digital transition”, he launched on the Crolles site, near Grenoble.
This is where the Franco-Italian STMicroelectronics and the American GlobalFoundries announced on Monday the construction of a semiconductor factory for 5.7 billion euros.
This is the largest industrial investment in recent decades in France, excluding nuclear power, according to the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire.
“We are joining forces to change this industry” and to contribute to the European “Chips Act” plan to double the production of semiconductors in the EU by 2030, added the CEO of GlobalFoundries, Tom Caulfield.
“We will achieve in three and a half years what we have done in 30 years”, continued the CEO of STMicroelectronics, Jean-Marc Chery, promising to double the production of chips in Crolles by 2026.
The announcement was made Monday at the “Choose France” summit at the Palace of Versailles, where Emmanuel Macron had invited 180 CEOs of major foreign groups to praise the merits of France.
The project, made possible by “significant financial support from the French State”, according to the two groups, is part of the France 2030 investment plan, presented by Emmanuel Macron in October 2021 and intended to develop the technologies of future in France, with a public envelope of five billion euros for the electronics sector.
This sector is suffering from serious shortages linked to the runaway global consumption of components, the impact of the Covid crisis on production and geopolitical tensions in Taiwan, one of the world leaders in the sector.
However, electronics is, according to Emmanuel Macron, “the industry of industry. All the transitions that we are going through involve innovation and production” in this sector.
In total, the France 2030 plan should generate more than 16 billion euros in public and private investment and more than 5,000 jobs in the components sector, said the presidency.
Particular emphasis will be placed on the production of low-power electronic technologies for transport, computing, communication, defense or health.
STMicroelectronics will thus produce 18-nanometer chips at its Crolles site (compared to 40 to 50 currently). France is also targeting the production of 10 nm class chips, which will place it in the world’s top 5 for the most advanced technologies, assures the Elysée.
The Head of State announced on this occasion an envelope of 800 million euros for research in the sector and 50 million for training, in particular for engineers, the sector struggling to recruit.
The France 2030 plan also provides for the creation of more than ten factories or production lines for electronic components or systems.
Downstream, France 2030 will also support the projects of Renault (particularly in Cléon), Vitesco and Valeo/VSeA, as well as those of Orange in Rennes and Lannion, Atos in Angers and Airbus in Toulouse.
The American giant Intel will set up a design center focused on high-performance computing and a foundry service center, which will create 450 jobs by 2024.
