Catania will produce products aimed at satisfying in particular «electric mobility (not only road vehicles, but also airplanes), the energy transition of businesses, data centers and, a very strong emerging trend, servers for artificial intelligence».
The start of production is expected in 2026, full capacity by 2033. The 5 billion investment will be supported by approximately 2 billion by the Italian State, within the scope of the EU Chips Act.
In Catania, another project started at the end of 2022, for an investment of 730 million over five years, financed for 292.5 million with Pnrr funds. The silicon carbide substrate manufacturing plant is being built next to the existing plant that produces silicon carbide devices and, once completed, will create approximately 700 new direct jobs.
Overall, with the latest initiative announced a few weeks ago, when fully operational, employment should increase by 2-3 thousand units. Not a small thing if you consider that at the end of 2023 5,284 employees were employed in the Catania hub.
The International Energy Agency estimates that by the end of the decade, one in three cars in circulation in China will be electric, and one in five in Europe and the United States: more and more silicon carbide chips will be needed. In addition to the Singaore hub, which is also the subject of expansion programmes, STM has recently started the construction of a 200 mm plant for silicon carbide, in joint with the local partner Sanan Optoelectronics, which will exclusively serve the Chinese market with start-up of production expected in the last part of 2025 and completion of the works in 2028.
