The U.S. Department of Commerce will provide $1.5 billion in planned direct funding for GlobalFoundries (GF) as part of the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. GF plans to use the funds to expand its footprint in Malta and to modernize its facility in Essex Junction, Vt.

GF is the first semiconductor pure play foundry to receive a major award from the CHIPS and Science Act.

At its existing Malta, N.Y. fab, GF will add critical technologies already in production in GF’s Singapore and Germany facilities geared towards enabling the U.S. auto industry. The company will also construct a state-of-the-art fab on the Malta campus to meet expected demand. The new fab has already been granted some necessary permits and will leverage existing infrastructure to speed the path from construction to production.

The measures are expected to triple the existing capacity of the Malta campus over the next 10+ years. These two projects are expected to increase wafer production to 1 million per year once all phases are complete. GF will also receive $575 million in funding for New York State Green CHIPS, as well as $15 million in funding for NYS Workforce Development activities, and $30 million for infrastructure upgrades and energy incentives provided by the New York Power Authority.

At its 200-mm facility in Vermont, GF will upgrade existing facilities and expand production capacity. The project, GF said, will create the first U.S. facility capable of high-volume manufacturing of next-generation gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors for use in electric vehicles, power grids, data centers, 5G and 6G smartphones, and other critical technologies.

GF plans to invest more than $12 billion over the next 10 plus years across its two U.S. sites through public-private partnerships with support from the federal and state governments as well as from its ecosystem partners, including key strategic customers.