Sicily is trying to transform the industrial weight gained by Catania in microelectronics into a stronger role within the European semiconductor landscape. The regional Department of Productive Activities has formalized the request to join the European Semiconductor Regions Alliance (Esra), the alliance that networks the European territories most involved in the sector’s development.
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This is a step beyond the formal recognition of the Catania district. The Region’s goal is to enter the network where some of the main European semiconductor ecosystems interact and to participate more directly in defining community policies on chips, skills, and technological sovereignty.
“Sicily does not want to be just a recipient of the major European industrial policies, but a protagonist in their construction,” says the regional assessor for Productive Activities Edy Tamajo. “In Catania, we have one of the most important microelectronics ecosystems in Europe, and today we want to network this industrial, scientific, and skills heritage with the most advanced regions.”
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The SiC Campus at the center of the strategy
The main calling card of the Sicilian candidacy is the STMicroelectronics hub in Catania and, in particular, the Campus SiC project, aimed at developing a new integrated plant dedicated to power devices in silicon carbide.
This is a strategic technology for applications ranging from electric mobility to renewable energies and network infrastructures, sectors in which wide-bandgap semiconductors are gaining increasing importance. The Catania program is supported by an agreement between the Sicilian Region, the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Invitalia, and STMicroelectronics and can count on a total public co-financing of about 2 billion euros. A share of up to 300 million can come from the Pr Fesr Sicily 2021-2027 through the Step priority, the European instrument aimed at developing strategic technologies.
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