Semiconductor chipmaker GlobalFoundries plans to increase its European footprint by expanding its existing manufacturing site in Dresden, Germany.
The Malta, New York-based company plans to invest more than $1.2 billion in the SPRINT project, according to the company. With the larger and improved manufacturing plant, or fab, the Dresden site will be able to produce more than 1 million wafers a year, making it the largest such site in Europe, according to GlobalFoundries.
The existing facility includes more than 645,000 square feet of cleanroom manufacturing space and a capacity of 950,000 300mm wafers per year. The expansion is scheduled to come online in 2028.
GlobalFoundries did not immediately respond to inquiries about its team for the project.
Chipmakers have a slate of projects underway in the US, following financial support from the Science and CHIPS Act of 2022. Demand for chips saw a shortage during the pandemic.
4%
Year-on-year growth in global manufacturing from Q2 2025:
Source: United Nations Industrial Development Organization
“Recent outages in the automotive sector underscore just how vulnerable global chip supply chains really are,” GlobalFoundries CEO Tim Breen said in a statement. “Our planned expansion in Dresden is another step in GF’s strategy to address these challenges.”
European officials approved legislation in 2022 aimed at supporting these manufacturing projects. On December 11, the European Commission approved the equivalent of about $580 million in German state aid for the GlobalFoundries project, as well as about $150 million for X-FAB’s project to build a new plant at its existing site in Erfurt, Germany.
