ABB Inaugurates New Semiconductor Manufacturing Unit in Switzerland
ABB inaugurated its expanded high-power semiconductor manufacturing plant in Lenzburg, Switzerland. The expansion is the end result of a three-year, $140 million investment, which includes new buildings and additional manufacturing lines. It substantially increases production capacity at the Lenzburg unit to help meet market demand for semiconductors, while maintaining ABB’s high standards of quality and delivery. ABB also recently acquired the semiconductor business of PolovodiÄe a.s. in the Czech Republic to boost its production capacity.
According to ABB, the Lenzburg expansion will help harness production synergies and ensure maximum use of the specialized infrastructure needed to produce these high-technology products, such as clean room technology and research and test laboratories.
According to the company, the state-of-the-art facility will produce a new generation of high-power semiconductors with significantly improved performance characteristics. It is also said to widen the scope of application of high-power semiconductors across a range of technologies, for greater energy efficiency.
"Concerns about climate change and carbon dioxide emissions are high on the global agenda," said Peter Leupp, head of Power Systems division at ABB Group. "Many of the proposed solutions, such as integration of renewables and energy efficiency, depend on high power semiconductors. The expansion in Lenzburg strengthens our market leadership in this technology, and supports ABB’s commitment to innovations that improve power efficiency and productivity for a better world."
ABB’s Lenzburg plant is the company’s leading manufacturing unit for high-power semiconductors that are at the heart of many leading ABB technologies, such as High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission systems and variable speed drives. Power semiconductors are also central to the development of a more reliable and smarter grid.
