EU Approves €319 Million Austrian State Aid for Infineon's Villach GaN Fab, a €1.1 Billion Investment Starting Production by End-2027
The European Commission approved €319 million of Austrian state aid in Brussels on October 27 for Infineon Technologies Austria AG's 'Empowering Fab' project in Villach, Carinthia, under the European Chips Act. Infineon announced the same day that it will invest about €1.1 billion through 2034 to build the world's first high-volume 300mm gallium nitride (GaN) power-semiconductor fab inside its existing Villach cleanroom, with production to start by the end of 2027.
Infineon said 300mm wafers yield 2.3 times as many chips as 200mm wafers, and that its first 300mm GaN wafers were processed in 2024. The fab targets applications including super intelligence (SI) data centres, energy infrastructure, e-mobility, robotics and consumer electronics. Chief Executive Jochen Hanebeck said power semiconductors are the backbone of electrification, and that expanding GaN capacity in Villach is part of the company's strategy to support the energy transition and digitalisation. The company cited a Yole Group forecast of the power GaN market growing about 35% a year to roughly $3.5 billion by 2031.
The Commission said the aid, approved under case SA.113427, amounts to about 29% of the project cost and carries conditions, including laboratory and design-kit access for research institutions, SMEs and startups, workforce upskilling, and a clawback and profit-sharing mechanism if returns exceed the baseline. Austria's formal funding commitment is still to come.
Infineon employs about 5,800 people in Austria, around 4,800 of them in Villach. The company said the production ramp will follow market demand.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 英飞凌科技公司标志。Infineon Technologies AG，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Infineon Technologies logo. Infineon Technologies AG, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
