The project, which seeks to attract investment in the manufacture of semiconductors and related technologies and which will be endowed with 11 billion euros financed by European funds, has begun to have an impact on the sector.

The PERTE of microchips and semiconductors, announced weeks ago by the President of the central government, Pedro Sánchez, «has been a very pleasant surprise».

Oscar Ciordia, Manager Marketing and Business Development at KDPOF, told Portal Movilidad España.

«We hope that companies are listened to when it comes to calls for proposals, we are the ones to tell them how they can help us,» he says.

For the time being, the semiconductor and microchip industry claims «not to know that work was being done» on this new PERTE.

But it was «very well received and at a very appropriate time», Ciordia says.

He also adds that they «were not part of the creation process» of this new project that will be financed by the Next Generation EU Funds.

For the time being, at least, KDPOF only knows the total amount that was allocated to this PERTE on microchips and semiconductors.

The impact of the new PERTE

The shortage of semiconductors led to a supply crisis that slowed down the recovery of the world economy after the pandemic shock.

In addition, the war in Ukraine following the Russian invasion has further complicated this scenario given the export weight of these countries on certain key raw materials such as argon and neon, which are used in the production of semiconductors.

«It will not have an impact in the short term, it has to be an ongoing effort over many years,» explains KDPOF’s Marketing and Business Development Manager.

Moreover, it is almost 30 years since Europe gave up semiconductor manufacturing and moved towards an import model from Asia.

«This means that the presence of the semiconductor industry in Europe is totally marginal,» says Ciordia on the idea of recovery put forward by the President of the Republic.

The semiconductor industry is fast moving and capital intensive, «to recover a leading position or to have a presence in this market is a very long effort and requires a lot of capital to be able to pay for it,» he explains.

On the specific announcement, KDPOF is confident that «it must be a first step in a long-distance or middle-distance race that is not going to bear fruit in the short or even medium term».

The impact on electric mobility

Semiconductors play an essential role in electromobility that must be analysed by looking at its strategic components: batteries, motors or the propulsion and electronics that make it all work.

The field of electronics «is advancing very fast compared to the others», says Ciordia, so «maintaining a strategic position is possible and will be achieved».

From KDPOF’s point of view, the focus is on in-vehicle communications. In this aspect «the transition to electric vehicles is fundamental».

«Optical communications, which is our speciality, is much more advantageous for the vehicle because of the weight of the vehicle on the one hand,» says Ciordia.

KDPOF is working on the initiative to change the copper communication system to a fibre optic system that reduces the weight of the vehicle by half.

«The electromagnetic pollution inside an electric vehicle must also be taken into account, and optical communications are immune to this pollution,» says the Marketing Manager.

It is in this sense that KDPOF comments that «electromobility is the right way forward and it is going in leaps and bounds».

Ciorda adds that «demand is doubling from one year to the next, at least in Spain and in Europe, so it is a truly consolidated movement».