GlobalWafers inaugurated a 300mm semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility in Novara, Italy, completing a €450 million expansion first announced in early 2022. The Taiwanese company’s FAB300 plant received €103 million in European Union research funding through the bloc’s microelectronics initiative, part of Brussels’ broader effort to reduce reliance on Asian suppliers.
The facility creates 150 positions at a site that has produced silicon wafers since 1976. The plant complements GlobalWafers’ crystal growth operations in Merano, creating what the company describes as one of Europe’s few fully integrated 300mm wafer production chains.
The opening comes as European policymakers acknowledge that full independence from global semiconductor supply chains remains unattainable, despite the EU Chips Act’s target of doubling the continent’s manufacturing share to 20% by 2030. Europe currently accounts for less than 10% of global semiconductor production, heavily dependent on Asian manufacturers for critical components.
GlobalWafers said the facility will operate under renewable energy standards, targeting 50% water recycling. The plant will manufacture polished and epitaxial wafers for logic, memory, power and sensor applications using automated technology.
The project follows GlobalWafers’ May opening of a facility in Sherman, Texas, reflecting the company’s strategy of geographic diversification to address tariff concerns and trade tensions. STMicroelectronics, a major customer, indicated the Novara location provides supply proximity to its own Italian manufacturing sites.
