Manufacturing
2025 Global Review +: Semiconductor Chip Plants Poised to Grow
GlobalFoundries plans an expansion of its manufacturing site in Germany.
Semiconductor chip manufacturing, despite a pandemic-related lull, is surging in the U.S. and Europe.
Semiconductor chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries is planning to grow its European footprint by expanding its existing manufacturing site in Dresden, Germany.
The Malta, N.Y.-based firm is planning to invest more than $1.2 billion in the SPRINT project, according to the company. With the larger and upgraded fabrication plant, or fab, the Dresden site will be able to produce more than 1 million wafers per year, making it make the largest site of its kind in Europe, according to GlobalFoundries.
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The existing facility includes more than 645,000 sq ft of cleanroom manufacturing space and a capacity of 950,000 300-mm wafers per year. The expansion is scheduled to come online in 2028.
GlobalFoundries did not immediately respond to inquiries about its team for the project.
Chip manufacturers have a slate of projects underway in the U.S., following financial support from 2022’s CHIPS and Science Act. Demand for chips experienced shortages during the pandemic.
4%
Year-over-year growth in global manufacturing as of Q2 2025:
Source: UN Industrial Development Organization
“Recent disruptions in the automotive sector underscore just how vulnerable global chip supply chains truly are,” GlobalFoundries CEO Tim Breen said in a statement. “Our planned expansion in Dresden is yet another step in GF’s strategy to address these challenges.”
European officials passed legislation in 2022 aimed at supporting such manufacturing projects. On Dec. 11, the European Commission approved the equivalent of about $580 million in German state aid for the GlobalFoundries project, as well as about $150 million for X-FAB’s project to build a new plant at its existing site in Erfurt, Germany.
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