The Government approves the PERTE for microelectronics and semiconductors to place Spain as a reference country in the design and manufacture of chips

23/05/2022
Image on PERTE chip, microelectronics and semiconductors
  • It will mobilize a public investment of 12.25 billion euros until 2027, positioning itself as the strategic project with the highest investment of the ten approved to date and will have a multiplier effect on the whole industry.
  • The project aims to develop the design and production capacities of the microelectronics and semiconductors industry in Spain and promote national strategic autonomy. EU in this sector, in line with the provisions of the recently proposed European Chips Act.
  • Articulate actions across the value chain, from design to manufacturing.
  • On the basis of the strategic assets in which Spain is best positioned, measures will be deployed around 4 axes to strengthen the capacities of R&D, chip design, construction of semiconductor manufacturing plants and the dynamization of the electronic and information technology (ICT) industry in Spain. It will also support the participation of Spanish companies in strategic projects developed at European level (IPCEIs)
  • This initiative will deploy public-private collaboration mechanisms to promote the necessary investments and will be developed in a coordinated way between public administrations, industry, universities and research centers.
  • A Chip Fund will be created, initially endowed with 200 million euros to finance startups and scaleups of the Spanish semiconductor sector and strengthen its position in the national and European market.
  • To ensure the coordination and effectiveness of the planned actions, the Special Commissioner for the Microelectronics and Semiconductors Project is created, who will lead a person of recognized international prestige in this field, Jaime Martorell Suárez, supported by an interministerial working group and a group of experts from the scientific, academic and business world of reference.
    • The project aims to develop the design and production capabilities of the microelectronics and semiconductor industry in Spain and to promote national and EU strategic autonomy in this sector.

    The Council of Ministers today agreed, on the proposal of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, to approve the Strategic Project for the Economic Recovery and Transformation of Microelectronics and Semiconductors (PERTE Chip) within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

    El PEARL Chip it aims to strengthen the design and production capacities of the microelectronics and semiconductors industry in Spain from an integral perspective and favor the national strategic autonomy and EU in this sector, in line with the provisions of the European Chips Act recently proposed by the European Commission.

    El PEARL Chip It will be developed around four strategic axes, covering the entire value chain of the industry in different phases: design, design and production of chips and dynamization of the electronics and information and communication technologies (ICT) industry, to act as a generator of demand for the microchips produced, and boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem of semiconductors. This integral vision will exert a multiplier effect for the whole of the Spanish economy.

    This strategic project is expected to mobilise a public investment of EUR 12.25 billion by 2027, financed with European funds under the Recovery Plan, and in turn trigger a significant volume of private investment.

    It will also deploy public-private partnership mechanisms to promote the necessary investments and will be developed in a coordinated way between public administrations, industry, universities and research centres.

    Empowerment of strengths

    The worldwide shortage of semiconductors triggered by the supply bottlenecks resulting from the pandemic has highlighted in Europe the need to accelerate autonomy in chip manufacturing.

    Spain is very well positioned in various strategic assets: in the development of alternative architectures such as RISC-V, where the National Center for Supercomputing – Barcelona Supercomputing Center, is an international reference center; in integrated photonics, where our country is considered worldwide through the role played by the Polytechnic Universities of Valencia, Vigo and Madrid; in the field of the development of quantum chips, with the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), the Higher Center for Scientific Research (CSIC), as well as with the Quantum Spain project, in the Autonomous Regions of Spain.

    In addition, the growth in demand for semiconductors in tractor sectors such as the automotive sector (in which Spain is the second largest producer of vehicles in the world). EU), the manufacture of machine tools (we are the third producer and exporter of EU and ninth in the world) or household appliances, justify the economies of scale necessary to develop these actions. This increase will accelerate in the coming years and will be joined by other areas such as telecommunications, the aerospace industry, rail transport, defence and infrastructure construction.

    The measurements of PERTE

    With the aim of promoting the training, design and production of the semiconductor and microelectronics industry in Spain, eleven actions will be launched around four strategic axes, encompassing the entire value chain for the production of microchips:

    Strengthening the scientific capacity. With actions to strengthen the R&D on cutting-edge microprocessors and alternative architectures and integrated photonics, developing quantum chips and launching a funding line to strengthen the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) for Microelectronics and Communication Technologies. An investment of 1.165 billion euros is expected for the period 2022-2027.

    Design strategy. It includes actions that will enhance the Spanish capacity in the design of microprocessors through the creation of: fabless companies of cutting-edge microprocessor design and alternative architectures; lines of test pilots; network of training in the field of semiconductors. 1.330 billion euros will be allocated for this axis.

    Construction of manufacturing plants. To provide national semiconductor production capacity in the manufacture of state-of-the-art (below 5 nm) and mid-range (above 5 nm) technology. The budgeted public investment is 9,350 million euros.