Poland’s third-largest city Wroclaw beat rivals last week to be home to the next multi-billion dollars Intel (INTC.O) chip factory in Europe, with a two-year campaign promising subsidies, infrastructure, talent, and a slice of American life. Intel’s commitment to a new European factory is the latest sign of Europe’s renewed appetite for cutting out its dependence on Asia for critical technology from smartphones to electric cars.
In Europe, Intel aims to build a “first-of-its-kind” end-to-end leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing facility. It’s investing in a new assembly and test plant, a planned wafer fabrication site in Germany, and another in Ireland. The company plans to work closely with the existing plants to improve reliability and cost efficiency in Europe, which is still a significant supplier of silicon to Intel.
The new plant is expected to employ 2,000 people in 2027. Design and planning will begin immediately, with construction pending approval of a European Commission investment plan, the company said on Friday. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the announcement “one of the biggest U.S. investments in the history of our special friendship.”
Intel’s decision boosts Poland, which has been struggling with an air pollution crisis that has made it hard for its citizens to breathe. The government has introduced several measures to reduce the number of pollutants entering the atmosphere, including curbs on car traffic in the city center and sprinklers installed at street corners that slake dust. It also subsidizes the installation of cleaner heating systems in homes. But so far, the uptake could have been faster, weighed down by bureaucracy and low rebates, according to experts.
In the face of an unprecedented semiconductor shortage that has impacted the production of everything from cell phones to electric vehicles, Europe is offering billions of euros in subsidies to lure companies like Intel away from Asia. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is also considering moving its assembly lines to Europe. But it will likely take years for such moves to pay off, and in the meantime, Poland is aiming high.
It’s a city with a knack for reinventing itself: for centuries, it was part of the German kingdom of Breslau, and its various cultural influences are evident in gothic cathedrals, colorful Bohemian terraces, and Baroque palaces. Its 40,000-strong student population lends an energetic and youthful vibe and creates a healthy nightlife scene.
Market Square is at the heart of the city, lined with elegant townhouses and a giant fountain. Nearby is the rotunda housing the Raclawice Panorama, an epic painting depicting a battle engrained in the Polish national memory. The main building of the prestigious University of Wroclaw also doubles as a museum and is worth a look for its ceiling fresco, gilded stucco, and sculpted cherubs. The campus also boasts an impressive array of buildings designed in different styles, focusing on modernist architecture.
