Power supply for a huge plant: Saxony-Anhalt is considering its own wind farm for an Intel chip factory

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Wind farm south of Magdeburg: »guarantee security of supply and low energy prices«

Photo: Jens Wolf / dpa

The state of Saxony-Anhalt is considering building a wind farm for the planned Intel chip factory in Magdeburg.

Such systems could supply the approximately 1,000-hectare industrial park south of the state capital with its own electricity, says Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU).

"We have to ensure that competitiveness and value chains are maintained, even regardless of crises and wars."

The idea is apparently also a reaction to recent comments from management.

Intel board member Keyvan Esfarjani had confirmed to the "Zeit" at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the success of the project also depended on energy prices.

It is "extremely important to become even more independent in the energy sector," which is why renewable energies are so important.

»All I can say is that a chip factory with electricity prices of 50 cents is definitely not competitive.«

From the point of view of the state government, a wind farm would have several advantages.

"That would not only guarantee security of supply and low energy prices, but also ensure even more sustainability," says Haseloff.

Intel relies on green electricity - "and we as a wind power state here in Saxony-Anhalt have a lot of experience with that".

State Economics Minister Sven Schulz (CDU) recently signaled “that a price of around ten cents per kilowatt hour is feasible”.

There are no plans to increase subsidies for the project.

Instead, it's about reducing the costs of operating the chip factory, he told the Magdeburg "Volksstimme".

It had previously become known that the federal government was rejecting further subsidies beyond the 6.8 billion euros that had already been promised.

more on the subject

• Intel boss on his billion dollar investment in East Germany: »Magdeburg is hungry« An interview by Alexander Demling

• Semiconductor bottleneck in the automotive industry: Why the chip crisis is (also) a luxury problem Martin Wittler reports from Dresden

• Intel boss Pat Gelsinger and his plans for Germany: Can he be the messiah? By Alexander Demling

Intel would like to build a modern semiconductor factory south of Magdeburg. In the first expansion stage, 3000 new jobs are to be created there alone - plus thousands of jobs at suppliers and partners in the region.

In the past few weeks, however, doubts have arisen as to whether the large settlement in Saxony-Anhalt, which has been greeted with euphoria, will actually take the form originally planned - partly because of the massive rise in energy prices.

In addition, the group's sales in its most important pillars fell by more than 30 percent in the past quarter, and operating profit collapsed by more than 80 percent.

CEO Pat Gelsinger has recently tried to be confident with a view to Magdeburg: "The project is progressing," he said.