Air Liquide signed major contract to support the semiconductor industry in the U.S. with an investment of more than 250 million dollars | Air Liquide

Oct 14, 2024

Air Liquide will build a new industrial gas production facility in the United States to supply the new fab of one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers. In the framework of a long-term contract, the plant will provide large volumes of high purity industrial gases for the production of memory chips. Air Liquide will invest over 250 million dollars in this state-of-the art production unit.

Air Liquide will build, own and operate a new industrial gas production facility in Idaho which will produce large volumes of ultra-pure nitrogen and other gases for Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), as well as for other customers of the area. This investment will bring hundreds of direct and indirect jobs to Idaho during construction and operation, and the facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2025.

This innovative plant is part of a complete Carrier Gas solution designed by Air Liquide for large customers, with an optimized land footprint and total cost of ownership. The use of digital technologies, standardization and modularization will bring exceptional value to local customers in terms of reliability, short delivery time and efficient project execution.

This project is a concrete example of how Air Liquide is contributing to technological progress while optimizing the semiconductor sector’s environmental footprint. The advanced design of this next generation high efficiency Carrier Gas Facility, produces the full range of critical gases required on site with reduced energy and logistics requirements. The new production unit is 5% more power efficient than the previous generation plants. Producing most of the gases onsite will also avoid transporting them by trucks. In addition, the electricity for the facility is targeted to be 100% from renewable sources within the next five years.

Matthieu Giard, Chief Executive Officer of Americas for the Air Liquide Group, said

We are pleased to further strengthen our 30 year-long partnership with Micron Technology. Our partner’s trust in Air Liquide reinforces our position in the Electronics industry as a technology leader with strong innovation capabilities. This investment will support the production of leading-edge memory chips, notably to meet the growing demand for computing capacities required by Artificial Intelligence. This contract illustrates our strategy to further accompany our customers in their development, including in the U.S. The Electronics activity is a strong driver of our 2025 strategic plan ADVANCE, which closely links financial and extra-financial performances.

Scott Gatzemeier, Corporate Vice President of front-end U.S. expansion at Micron Technology, said

Micron’s investments will propel U.S. supply chain resilience given memory is produced at a much larger size and scale than other segments of the semiconductor industry. As the company builds its fab in Idaho, Micron will be driving even more demand for equipment, raw materials and jobs – growing domestic front-end material sourcing 7x over the next 10 years. This is an example of how Micron will continue to attract and build a semiconductor ecosystem across the U.S. through its planned Idaho and New York investments and the support of suppliers in nearly all 50 states.

Generating €2,483 million in revenue in 2023 the Electronics business line of Air Liquide is a world reference in designing, manufacturing and supplying ultra high purity gases and advanced materials for this industry. The Electronics business line of Air Liquide is a long-term partner providing innovative and sustainable solutions to the semiconductors, photovoltaics and flat-panel displays markets. More than 4,500 employees worldwide are dedicated to providing the working agility and reliability our customers need. www.electronics-airliquide.com

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