Editor’s Note
The Spanish government has approved a major €2.35 billion investment in Extremadura for a cutting-edge semiconductor factory. This facility will utilize a novel technology based on synthetic diamonds to produce high-performance chip components, marking a significant step in Spain’s strategic technological development.
The Council of Ministers has given the green light this Tuesday to a new operation by the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT). This will involve an investment of €2.35 billion in Extremadura for the installation of a factory that will produce components for high-performance chips using a unique, cutting-edge technology based on synthetic diamonds as a substrate. According to government sources, the specific approval is for a SETT investment of €752 million to create a joint venture with the US technology company Diamond Foundry, which already currently produces monocrystalline diamond ingots in Trujillo. This material is chemically and physically identical to natural diamond and is used for industrial applications, primarily precision cutting tools and optics.
The new plant will manufacture monocrystalline diamonds as a semiconductor substrate to be used for high-performance wafers and chips. Single Crystal Diamond (SCD) holds enormous potential for microelectronics, as it is the material that offers the best performance in high-voltage, high-temperature, and high-frequency applications due to its electrical and thermal properties, which surpass not only silicon but also those of other semiconductors.
The project plans to expand ingot manufacturing capabilities in Trujillo and incorporate wafer cutting, lapping (high-precision smoothing), polishing, and inspection (wafer quality review) activities. This represents a paradigm shift in the semiconductor industry by using diamonds as a new substrate for chips and will increase computing efficiency with lower energy consumption.
The Trujillo facility will be a global leader and will become a unique production center for this type of chip material. It will supply major companies in the sector, covering the needs of the chip manufacturing industry or sectors such as defense and automotive, among others. Spain will thus become the world’s largest center for diamond substrates for semiconductors.
The economic impact on the Spanish economy is estimated to be very significant. In the first ten years of the project, the contribution to GDP is estimated at around €2.15 billion. The project is expected to generate around 500 direct jobs and more than 1,600 indirect jobs in activities linked to the factory’s productive activity, generating a very positive impact on the city of Trujillo and throughout Extremadura.
This operation contributes to strengthening Spain’s leadership in the semiconductor industry and positioning itself as a technology development center, in addition to placing Europe at the forefront of the value chain integration market.
The SETT investment is part of the PERTE Chip, whose objective is to reinforce the design and production capabilities of the microelectronics and semiconductor industry in Spain. The execution of the PERTE Chip fund, provided for by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan – Next Generation funds, is among the functions of the SETT, which also manages two more financial instruments to boost the technological business ecosystem: Next Tech, dedicated to disruptive technologies, and Spain Audiovisual Hub, which supports the digitalization of the audiovisual sector.
Shortly before the approval of this project was known, the spokesperson for the Regional Government of Extremadura, Elena Manzano, in the press conference after the Governing Council, demanded “certainty” for an autonomous community that is “tired of announcements” that, she added, are often concentrated in electoral periods and then “do not materialize into anything.”
Also, regarding whether the company has in any way requested the involvement of the regional administration, she indicated that no formal request has been received so far.
The Socialist candidate for the Presidency of the Regional Government, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, has described the approval by the Spanish Government of a €2.35 billion investment to install in Trujillo the first factory in Europe capable of producing monocrystalline diamonds for semiconductors as “extraordinary news.”
He also placed this news within a historical line of transformation driven by socialist governments and considered that when he is president, starting next December 21, he will work to make these projects a reality.