Renesas Electronics announced on the 19th that it will launch a power semiconductor production line using silicon carbide (SiC) at its Takasaki factory in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, and will start mass production from 2025. Demand for SiC-based power semiconductors with excellent energy-saving performance is increasing year by year along with the rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market.
The company plans to start investing by the end of the year, but the specific investment amount has not yet been determined. In response to rising demand for power semiconductors, the company will make a capital investment of JPY90.0bn in the Kofu plant in Kai City, Yamanashi Prefecture, which was closed in October 2014, and plans to resume operations in the first half of 2024. is also standing. In 2025, mass production of power semiconductors such as silicon (Si) insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), which are used in general EVs, is scheduled to begin.
Regarding power semiconductors, President Hidetoshi Shibata explained, “Our efforts have only just begun, but demand is consistently expanding in EV and non-EV markets, and we believe that we will have a fairly large share.”