BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German chip supplier ZF and American chipmaker Wolfspeed Inc are expected to announce on Wednesday plans to build an electric vehicle (EV) chip plant in the Saarland region, according to three sources close to the matter.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economy Minister Robert Habeck will attend the event, which has been advertised as a briefing on the future of the site on which the new chip factory will be built, a closed-down coal plant.
The chancellery said the event was related to an industrial policy project in the field of microelectronics but did not provide further details.
The project will cost over 2 billion euros ($2.18 billion) and ZF will hold a minority stake, with production to begin in four years, according to German business paper Handelsblatt which previously reported on the plans, citing unidentified sources.
A spokesperson for ZF declined to comment, and Wolfspeed was not immediately available for comment.
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(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Victoria Waldersee and Ilona Wissenbach)
