U.S. awards GlobalWafers up to US$406 million in CHIPS Act funds

Washington/Taipei, Dec. 17 (CNA) Taiwan-based GlobalWafers Co. on Tuesday finalized a deal for two of its subsidiaries to receive up to US$406 million under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act.

In a statement, GlobalWafers said that the award would be used to support advanced semiconductor wafer production facilities in Sherman, Texas, and St. Peters, Missouri.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the funds will be disbursed to GlobalWafers' subsidiaries, GlobalWafers America, LLC (GWA) and MEMC LLC (MEMC) based on project milestones.

The direct funding will include US$6 million dedicated to strengthening workforce development activities at GWA, GlobalWafers said.

"Today's announcement secures a nearly US$4 billion investment [from Globalwafers] to onshore a domestic source for silicon wafers -- the foundation for all chips and an end-to-end semiconductor ecosystem here in the United States," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

The deal with GlobalWafers announced Tuesday finalizes preliminary terms agreed in the summer and comes after the completion of due diligence, the U.S. Department of Commerce said.

According to GlobalWafers, GWA will become the first high-volume advanced 12-inch silicon wafer facility in the United States in the first half of 2025.

GlobalWafers said 12-inch silicon wafers are a key input used by foundries and integrated device manufacturers to manufacture leading-edge, mature-node, and memory chips.

MEMC will also roll out 12-inch silicon-on-insulator ("SOI") wafers, commonly used in defense and aerospace applications, in the first half of 2025, GlobalWafers added.

GlobalWafers claimed that the Texas and Missouri facilities will create more than 800 permanent jobs once operating at full capacity.

So far, the projects have created about 1,700 construction jobs, the company said.

In addition to the US$406 million direct funding, GlobalWafers said it will apply for the U.S. Treasury Department's Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (AMIC) for up to 25 percent of qualified expenditures at the GWA and MEMC LLC facilities.

GlobalWafers, the world's third-largest silicon wafer supplier, is the second Taiwanese semiconductor firm to receive direct funding from the U.S. government under the CHIPS Incentive Awards.

In November, the DOC announced the award of up to US$6.6 billion in subsidies to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) for the contract chipmaker's US$65 billion in Arizona, where the company is building two advanced wafer plants and has planned a third.