Intel seeks planning for extensive new plant

MULTINATIONAL microchip manufacturer Intel is seeking planning permission from Kildare County Council for a 162,000sq m new plant at Leixlip, confirming it as one of the sites it has chosen to produce its next generation of microprocessors.

If the project goes ahead it is estimated building the facility could create at least 1,000 jobs, and is likely to attract bids from leading players in construction and engineering.

Intel chief executive Paul Otellini recently confirmed the group had chosen its existing facility at Leixlip as one of three locations where it would manufacture its next generation of computer chips.

The Irish subsidiary, which employs 4,000 people and is the Republic’s biggest private-sector employer, has lodged an application with Kildare County Council seeking planning permission for a 162,000sq m manufacturing plant at Leixlip.

The proposed plant is on the same scale as its latest facilities in Portland, Oregon, and Arizona, the two US sites that will also manufacture Intel’s most recently developed microprocessor.

The scale of the plant suggests the group is planning a multi-bilion euro investment in the Leixlip site.

Getting the plant built and commissioned on time will be a key issue for the multinational, and would have been one of the deciding factors in choosing the location.

Each new generation of micro-chip has a lifespan of only 18 months to two years before it is overtaken. As a result, Intel has a short period during which it can maximise sales and profits from the new product.

The construction will call for considerable expertise in mechanics and electrical engineering.

Along with the manufacturing, the plans call for a range of utility buildings, such as water treatment, power generation and boiler and chiller rooms.

Virtually all of this is backed up to ensure there is no breakdown in production. Intel chooses three sites for each new generation of technology, which it introduces every two years.

In common with other US multinationals that make a significant portion of their revenues overseas, Intel had been under political pressure to support jobs at home.

As a result it was expected the Intel plant in either Ireland or Israel would miss out on the latest round of technology investment.

Intel’s Leixlip plant has not secured major investment from its US parent since 2004, when the corporation announced it was spending $2 billion to build a factory called Fab 24-2.

With no major investment since then, a number of production facilities at Leixlip were mothballed and the US company had its first compulsory layoffs in 2009.

In January 2011, Eamonn Sinnott, Intel Ireland general manager, said $500 million had been secured to upgrade an older manufacturing plant to prepare it for a possible investment. That work is currently under way at the Co Kildare site.

Intel Ireland’s spokesman did not return calls yesterday.