Intel opens $2bn chip plant in Ireland

Intel has opened its newest high-volume wafer fabrication facility in the Republic of Ireland.

The chip giant said the $2bn facility, Fab 24, uses the latest 300mm silicon wafer manufacturing, enabling it to produce 2.5 times more chips per wafer.

According to Intel, the larger 300mm wafer technology reduces the cost per individual component by approximately 30 per cent.

The process uses 40 per cent less energy and water for each chip than previous-generation technologies, the company claimed.

Fab 24 is Intel's fourth 300mm manufacturing facility and the third that employs the company's 90nm process technology producing circuitry of 90nm (90 billionths of a metre) across.

The 90nm process allows Intel to double the transistor density on a chip.

"This new facility is the embodiment of Intel's commitment to high-volume, leading-edge manufacturing capacity," said Craig Barrett, Intel chief executive officer, in a statement.

"The combination of the capital efficiencies gained from 300mm technology and the outstanding track record of our workforce makes this facility one of the best of its kind anywhere in the world."