{"id":38409,"date":"2025-09-02T10:40:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T10:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/38409\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T10:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T10:40:10","slug":"chipmakers-need-help-with-high-energy-costs-taoiseach-told-ursula-von-der-leyen-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/38409\/","title":{"rendered":"Chipmakers need help with high energy costs, Taoiseach told Ursula von der Leyen \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Europe risks losing its industrial base of semiconductor chipmakers if it fails to bring down steep energy costs<\/a> facing the sector, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> warned European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen<\/a> earlier this year. <\/p>\n

The Government said there was a need for \u201cinterim measures\u201d to be taken at EU level, to lift some of the pressure high energy costs were putting on chip producers such as Intel<\/a>, in a letter to the head of the EU\u2019s executive body. <\/p>\n

The March 31st letter to Ms von der Leyen, seen by The Irish Times, said the EU must help chip manufacturers stay economically competitive in Europe, or companies might pause future investment plans and decide to build new plants elsewhere. <\/p>\n

Ms von der Leyen responded in June, agreeing that efforts to boost Europe\u2019s semiconductor industry would work only if the continent\u2019s \u201cenergy challenges\u201d were addressed. <\/p>\n

US chipmaker Intel has a large presence in the Republic, employing almost 5,000 people at a major plant in Leixlip, Co Kildare, which is its largest manufacturing facility outside the US. <\/p>\n

The company has been struggling through a painful restructuring after falling behind Nvidia and other semiconductor giants that have so far dominated the artificial intelligence (AI) race. <\/p>\n

During discussions with Mr Martin and other Government figures in recent months, Intel has repeatedly complained about the high electricity costs it faces in Ireland.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin appealed to the European Commission president to keep semiconductor manufacturers in mind as the EU attempts to pivot towards more environmentally-friendly energy sources. <\/p>\n

In the correspondence, Mr Martin said the sector used a lot of energy to produce semiconductor chips, and companies in Ireland were reporting \u201cvery high electricity costs\u201d compared to other parts of the world. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Coalition looks to lure new generation of chipmakers to IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"TheThe letter to Ursula von der Leyen said it was \u201cimperative\u201d that Ireland and the European Commission worked on measures to help chipmakers ‘remain globally competitive across the union’. Photograph: Gints Ivuskans\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cYou will be aware that energy prices in the EU remain relatively high when compared to competing economies,\u201d he told Ms von der Leyen. <\/p>\n

Plans to transition European economies to green energy would take time, meaning companies would be facing higher electricity costs \u201cfor some years to come\u201d, Mr Martin said. As such, the EU would need to \u201cconsider interim measures to address this particular challenge\u201d, he wrote. <\/p>\n

The letter, which was also signed by Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke, said it was \u201cimperative\u201d that Ireland and the European Commission worked on measures to help chipmakers \u201cremain globally competitive across the union\u201d. <\/p>\n

Failing to do so would risk \u201closing the base that we currently have and would be to the detriment of developing and\/or attracting further manufacturing to the EU,\u201d the letter said. <\/p>\n

Semiconductor manufacturing is seen as a strategically crucial sector, where Europe, the US and China are in competition to expand their respective supplies of the computer chips. <\/p>\n

Recent years have seen an intense global race to attract and support companies developing cutting edge processors used to power the most advanced AI technology. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Trump Intel deal designed to block sale of chipmaking unit, CFO saysOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The Government is hoping to lure a company \u2013 such as Nvidia or another big player \u2013 to the Republic, to build an advanced chip fabrication plant as part of a new strategy on semiconductors. <\/p>\n

In a June 12th response to the Taoiseach, Ms von der Leyen said new EU legislation being brought forward would help energy-intensive industries make the switch from fossil fuels to clean energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, besides energy costs, our broader competitiveness agenda also aims to foster innovation, simplify regulations, and streamline investment processes, creating an environment where European businesses, particularly SMEs, can thrive,\u201d she wrote. <\/p>\n

The correspondence was released to The Irish Times in response to a request under Freedom of Information laws. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Europe risks losing its industrial base of semiconductor chipmakers if it fails to bring down steep energy costs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,18,5766,19,3572,17,5765,4894],"class_list":{"0":"post-38409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-european-commission","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-intel","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-micheal-martin","15":"tag-ursula-von-der-leyen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}