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CHIPS falls into place…Micron to invest $100 billion in New York state megafab site

With 2.4 million square feet area for four cleanrooms, the facility in Clay will be the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing unit and create 50,000 jobs

Micron Technology
Image: Canva

Micron Technology will make the biggest ever investment in the state of New York when it announced plans to spend up to $100 billion (AED367 billion) over the next 20 years to build the world’s largest semiconductor fabrication facility in the country.

In the latest move by a major semiconductor maker to invest in the United States, Micron will build megafab in Clay in central New York. Apart from increasing the domestic supply of leading-edge memory, it will create nearly 50,000 New York jobs, including approximately 9,000 high-paying jobs.

The Biden administration had recently approved the CHIPS and Science Act 2022, which provides $52 billion in grants and subsidies for companies to build and expand computer chip factories in the country. It is clearly having the desired effect.

Intel Corp and Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management last month agreed to jointly fund up to $30 billion for chip factories in Arizona.

Micron’s investment in Onondaga County, New York, will complement the company’s previously announced high-volume manufacturing fab in Boise, Idaho. Micron will design, build and operate the facility in accordance with its sustainability goals. The site could eventually include four 600,000 square foot cleanrooms, for a total of 2.4 million square feet of cleanroom space.

Sanjay Mehrotra, President and CEO, Micron, said: “I am grateful to President Biden and his Administration for making the CHIPS and Science Act a priority. Micron will leverage the diverse, highly educated and skilled talent in New York as we look to build our workforce in the Empire State.

“This historic leading-edge memory megafab in Central New York will deliver benefits beyond the semiconductor industry by strengthening US technology leadership as well as economic and national security, driving American innovation and competitiveness for decades to come.”

Site preparation work will start in 2023, construction will begin in 2024 and production output will ramp in the latter half of the decade, gradually increasing in line with industry demand trends. The New York megafab is part of Micron’s strategy to gradually increase American-made leading-edge DRAM production to 40 percent of the company’s global output over the next decade.

Sanjay Mehrotra, President and CEO of Micron

Micron selected the Onondaga County, New York site based on its multiple advantages including leading higher education institutions and access to talent traditionally underrepresented in technology jobs. It also offers availability of water and clean, reliable power to enable a project of this scale while achieving the company’s long-term environmental goals.

The new megafab will be designed and operated in line with the company’s sustainability framework and commitments. Micron aims to use 100 percent renewable electricity at the new facility. Additionally, Micron plans to use green infrastructure and sustainable building attributes for the construction to attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold status.

Micron and the state of New York also announced a $500 million investment in community and workforce development with a focus on disadvantaged populations over the duration of the project.

The company will invest $250 million over the next 20-plus years as part of its commitment to the Green CHIPS Community Investment Fund.

An additional $250 million is expected to be invested, with $100 million from New York and $150 million from local, other state and national partners.

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Abdul Rawuf

Abdul Rawuf