Dive Brief:

• The Department of Commerce is offering up to $225 million in CHIPS and Science Act funding to automotive supplier Bosch, the agency announced Friday.
• The funding, which includes an additional $350 million in loans from the CHIPS Program Office, supports Bosch’s $1.9 billion project to expand its Roseville, California, facility for silicon carbide semiconductor production for the automotive industry.
• The project is expected to create up to 1,000 construction jobs and 700 manufacturing, engineering and research and development roles, according to the release.

Dive Insight:

The Roseville wafer fab was acquired by Bosch in August 2023 from TSI Semiconductors Corp., according to a Bosch press release.

With the acquisition, Bosch vowed to significantly grow its global portfolio of SiC semiconductors by the end of 2030, according to the release. The location will be Bosch’s first semiconductor facility in the country and extend the auto supplier’s international semiconductor manufacturing network.

Bosch launched a new spinoff company called Robert Bosch Semiconductor LLC for the transformation.

“SiC chips are important components for applications in the automotive, telecommunications, and defense industries because they utilize less energy, and with this proposed investment,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

Production at the 200-millimeter wafer facility is expected to start in 2026, focusing on electric vehicle driving and charging efficiency. The facility has the potential to represent 40% of U.S.-based SiC manufacturing capacity, according to the Commerce Department’s release.

The Roseville facility will perform both front-end device manufacturing and backend testing, sorting and dicing processes. 

Bosch also plans to claim the advanced manufacturing investment credit to cover 25% of qualified capital expenditures. 

The site received a $25 million tax incentive from the state of California grant as well.