The business case for a back-end fab in the Netherlands is uncertain and the risks are real. Yet, initiatives with intrinsic potential to strengthen the vitality of Europe’s chip ecosystem shouldn’t be dismissed too easily.
“How is it possible that we’re not better prepared?” André Faaij, director of science and technology at TNO and professor of energy systems analysis at Utrecht University, recently wondered in Dutch newspaper Het Parool, referring to another looming energy crisis. “Covid and Ukraine should have made us acutely aware that dependence on other regions needs to be reduced, but not enough has been done,” agreed René Kleijn, professor of sustainable resource management at Leiden University.
That article came to mind when I heard about the early-stage initiative to build a back-end fab in the Netherlands. It’s easy to scoff about such things: Doesn’t align with our core strengths, it’ll never compete, designed to siphon off subsidies and so on. But that’s the mindset of a different era. It’s no longer inconceivable that we’ll one day talk about chips the way Faaij and Kleijn talk about energy security.
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