Air Liquide S.A. (Paris) announced an investment of over €50 million to build a new innovative plant in Singapore and revamp its existing facilities in Malta, New York, supplying high-purity nitrogen to GlobalFoundries (GF). These Air Liquide projects will enable GlobalFoundries to benefit from higher energy efficiencies.
To bring significant energy efficiencies to GlobalFoundries, Air Liquide’s new plant in Singapore is leveraging the Group’s proprietary state-of-the-art designs, reducing the amount of electricity needed. The new plant is expected to be operational by 2026.
Additionally, Air Liquide has renewed its partnership to supply high purity gases to GlobalFoundries’ existing units at its Malta, New York site over the next 15 years. In this context, the units in New York will be upgraded via energy efficiency projects in order to support the site’s efficiency and sustainability needs over this period.
Together, these projects will enable GlobalFoundries to further reduce its overall carbon footprint. This collaboration is part of Air Liquide’s long-lasting partnership with GlobalFoundries, to support their growth in major semiconductor hubs, as illustrated by their cooperation in Dresden, Germany.
The semiconductor industry is rapidly evolving, with increasing demand for more energy-efficient semiconductor chips and Air Liquide is scaling up investments in major semiconductor hubs to support its customer’s presence in key markets such as smart mobile devices, automotive, IoT and data centers.
Armelle Levieux, member of Air Liquide’s Executive Committee overseeing Electronics activities, stated: “Our journey with GlobalFoundries started more than 20 years ago and these contract extensions are further reinforcing our strategic partnership. To meet the specific needs of our electronics customers, we develop innovative solutions that bring both efficiencies and sustainability benefits. Combined with our strategic presence, close to our customers in major semiconductor hubs, our comprehensive portfolio of products and services enables us to address the technological challenges of the semiconductor industry while leveraging opportunities arising from the market’s structural growth.”
Roberto Avallone, Head of Global Facilities and Capacity Planning at GlobalFoundries, stated: “Environmental sustainability is imperative to our business as we continue to meet the demand for GF-manufactured essential chips. Our strong collaboration with Air Liquide is a part of our global manufacturing expansion strategy in Singapore, U.S. and Germany, and we look forward to adopting more innovative solutions that further decarbonize our operations in line with our global Journey to Zero Carbon strategy.”
Announced in August 2021, GF’s Journey to Zero Carbon Goal aims first to reduce the company’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030, despite a significant planned growth of its global manufacturing capacity.