Intel to build $4.6 billion chip plant in Poland

American tech giant Intel has announced that it will invest $4.6 billion (18.7 billion zloty) to create a new semiconductor chip assembly and testing facility in Poland. The project, which will create 2,000 jobs, is the largest greenfield investment in Polish history.

The plant, which will be located near the city of Wrocław, will become part of an EU-wide semiconductor supply chain being developed by Intel, including an existing wafer fabrication facility in Ireland and a planned one in Germany.

The site in Poland will receive chips created on silicon wafers at the Irish and German plants, assemble them into final products, and then test them for performance and quality. Construction of the facility, which is still subject to EU approval, is expected to be completed by 2027.

The firm says that it chose Poland due to “its infrastructure, strong talent base and excellent business environment”. The country “is also very cost-competitive with other manufacturing locations globally”, said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who noted that the firm has already operated in Poland for 30 years.

“Poland offers a strong technical talent base and several excellent universities with strong engineering programs,” added Intel, which said that the “well-paid” jobs at the new facility would include engineers, business support functions, factory operators and equipment technicians.

The 2,000 new positions will add to 4,000 employees Intel already has in Poland, including at the firm’s largest European research and development facility, located in Gdańsk.

Intel’s announcement was welcomed by Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, who described it as “the largest greenfield investment in the history of Poland”. A greenfield investment is when a company invests abroad to create a completely new facility.

“Chips and semiconductors are critical technologies in the 21st century and we are excited to expand Poland’s role in the global semiconductor supply chain and help to establish the country as an economic trendsetter,” he added.

A number of large international tech firms have launched investments in Poland in recent years. Last month, Visa announced the creation of a global technology and product hub.

In 2020, Microsoft announced a $1 billion investment to locate its first data centre in the region in Warsaw and the following year Google pledged to make the city the “cloud capital of Europe” by establishing its biggest cloud technology development on the continent there.

Main image credit: Intel

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.