Intel gets go-ahead to build $4B Irish processor facility
updated 03:46 pm EST, Thu January 24, 2013
New facility to create 800 full-time jobs, manufacture 14nm chips
Intel has received permission to build a new processor fabrication facility in Ireland, after receiving the go-ahead from Irish planning agency An Bord Pleanála. The $4 billion chip plant will be used by the processor manufacturer to create its 14-nanometer processors, with only the final decision from Intel management left before it can be constructed.
The factory will be a redevelopment of an existing facility in County Kildare, and has been planned as early as 2011, reports Silicon Republic. The local government approved the plans in August last year, but was then appealed by An Bord Pleanálla, which has since been approved after some minor concessions. The construction project will take two years to complete, and when finished, will give Intel 245,000 square meters (2.6 million square feet) to construct it's next generation of processor.
The construction will employ around 3,500 construction workers during the build, and once completed, is estimated to employ 800 full-time staff for chip production.
Intel has already been working on 14nm processors for a few years, with the first 14nm processors working in test labs since 2011. The Atom Z2580 system-on-chip was originally considered to be the first processor created under the new manufacturing process, with its 4G LTE support and energy efficiency combination being aimed towards mobile devices.
