Advanced Manufacturing
Intel Delays Completion of First Ohio Plant to 2030
Construction continues in February on Intel's $28-billion project building two fabs in Licking County, Ohio.
Photo courtesy Intel Corp.
Intel Corp. announced that it is slowing the pace of construction of two semiconductor fabrication plants in central Ohio. The first of the plants, known as fabs, will now complete in 2030, according to the company.
The $28-billion project includes construction led by general contractor Bechtel of 2.5 million sq ft of buildings, including 600,000 sq ft of cleanroom production space.
Intel originally said it expected to begin production at the New Albany, Ohio, site in 2025, and later pushed that back to 2027. It now says it expects to begin production at the first fab in 2030 or 2031, and construction of the second fab is expected to complete in 2031 for operations starting in 2032.
“As we continue to invest across our U.S. sites, it’s important that we align the start of production of our fabs with the needs of our business and broader market demand,” Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice president, chief global operations officer and general manager of Intel Foundry Manufacturing, wrote explaining the delayed timeline to employees.
In November, Intel finalized an agreement with Biden administration officials for the U.S. Dept. of Commerce to provide the company with up to $7.86 billion in direct funding from 2022’s CHIPS and Science Act to support its work in Ohio, as well as other manufacturing projects in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon. The delay pushes the first fab’s scheduled completion to the latest year that former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Biden administration officials aimed to have projects supported by the incentive program to begin production. Reuters reported last month that Trump administration officials were looking to renegotiate some of the awards under that program.
“We are taking a prudent approach to ensure we complete the project in a financially responsible manner that sets up [the manufacturing campus] for success well into the future,” Chandrasekaran wrote.
In an annual report to the Ohio Dept. of Development, Intel told officials that it spent $3.7 billion on the project by the end of 2024. Additionally, the company says more than 6.4 million work hours have gone into the project so far. Crews have placed more than 200,000 cu yd of concrete, installed 497,000 linear ft of underground conduit, installed 98,700 linear ft of underground pipe and installed 24,500 tons of rebar.
The report also lists some of the firms that worked on the project in 2024. In addition to Bechtel, they include Barnhart Plant Services LLC, CTL Engineering inc., Currie & Brown Inc., EMH&T Inc., Geotechnical Consultants Inc., Gilbane, Linde Engineering North America, Lithko Contracting LLC, MWH-Kokosing Joint Venture and SSOE Group, among others.
