The EU and Flanders want to invest up to 1.5 billion euros in imec for a cleanroom

The European Commission and Flemish government want to invest up to 1.5 billion euros in imec. The research center wants to use that money to build a new cleanroom to test chips. The money must partly come from the European Chips Act.

The Flemish government wants to invest up to 750 million euros in imec, but the precise amount depends partly on what the European Commission wants to invest. Flanders wants to double the Commission’s investment, writes De Tijd. The money from the Flemish government is not a subsidy; imec must pay rent for the cleanroom and thus repay the investment. The Flemish government subsidizes imec for 120 million euros every year.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, says that imec plays an important, innovative role in Europe and that it is therefore important that investments are made in the research center. The European money comes from the Chips Act pot, which is intended to expand the European chip industry.

In addition to the European Commission and the Flemish government, partners such as ASML invest in the cleanroom. For example, ASML wants to make equipment worth hundreds of millions of euros available to imec. These investments from partners could amount to an additional 750 million euros. Imec and ASML recently announced want to jointly develop High-NA EUV lithography machines. High-NA stands for high-numerical aperture and, according to ASML, is the next step in EUV lithography.