The newly formed federal government has reaffirmed its plan to invest two billion euros in the development of chip factories, with the funds already allocated by the previous government in the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF).
According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, the funding of the projects is planned with the two billion euros allocated in the KTF, a spokesperson for the ministry told the Handelsblatt.
The ministry had launched a tender in November 2024 for funding in the context of the European Chips Act and 34 projects were submitted by companies, with 25 of them being deemed eligible for funding. The list of projects includes initiatives from companies such as X-Fab, Vishay, Semikron Danfoss, Aixtron, AMTC, Carl Zeiss, Infineon and Siltronic.
The largest project on the list is that of the Ferroelectric Memory Company (FMC), a Dresden-based company that plans to build its first semiconductor plant in Germany, according to government sources. This would be the only memory chip mass production in all of Europe, with FMC reportedly considering locations in Magdeburg, Pirna and Frankfurt/Oder.
However, FMC is seeking a state-funded subsidy of 1.3 billion euros for the project, which could potentially mean that the government may not be able to fund all the other submitted projects. A ministry spokesperson stated that they are currently in talks with several companies, but did not provide further details. FMC declined to comment on the matter, according to the Handelsblatt.