Yesterday, Cree announced plans to build a new 200 mm wafer fab in Marcy, New York, a community near Utica. The fab, which Cree has dubbed the “North Fab,” moves its previously announced fab expansion from its base in North Carolina.

New York state offered Cree incentives worth $500 million to build in New York, which Cree said will save the company $280 million in capital expenditures compared to North Carolina. In New York, Cree will build a completely new building, rather than modifying an existing building in Durham. The new fab will have 25 percent greater capacity than the upgrade planned for North Carolina.

Cree said the automated, 480,000 square foot facility — 25 percent clean room — will be the world’s largest SiC fab. It will support the Wolfspeed business, supplying SiC devices for electric vehicles and GaN power devices for RF applications such as 5G and defense.

The fab, which is planned to ramp in 2022, represents a $1 billion investment in construction, equipment and other related costs.

While North Carolina lost the wafer fab, Cree will expand its materials growth facility in North Carolina, representing an investment of some $500 million.

In the release announcing the location of the new fab, Cree said its New York and North Carolina locations will “establish a silicon carbide corridor on the East Coast.”