Bosch, Continental and NXP Semiconductors Romania have signed the financing contracts for substantial investments in microelectronics

The three companies selected following the evaluation process for granting state aid for the development of projects in the field of microelectronics, in accordance with the provisions of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) – Continental Automotive Romania, Robert Bosch and NXP Semiconductors Romania – have signed the financing contracts in a ceremony held at the Victoria Palace.

“If we look at the statistical figures, Romania is doing very well from this point of view, we have the largest number of IT engineers per thousand inhabitants in the EU, in 6th place worldwide, but we need specialization in certain fields that can brings added value to the Romanian economy. Today the automotive industry is very well represented, depending on the statistics, between 13 and 15% of Romania’s GDP is generated by the automotive industry. The European automotive industry must become competitive again, microelectronics, research, product development in this area represents the answer we must have in Romania”, said Ștefan-Radu Oprea to the Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism.

The projects of the companies Continental Automotive Romania, Robert Bosch and NXP Semiconductors Romania, selected and approved by the European Commission, benefit from financial support to support the digital transition and green mobility. Moreover, along with these, 8 Romanian universities are involved in the project, participating as indirect participants. It is about the National University of Science and Technology Polytechnic Bucharest, the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, the Polytechnic University of Timisoara, the “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iași , the 1 December 1918 University of Alba Iulia, the “Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, the University Transilvania in Brașov, Babes Bolyai University), which will contribute to the development of the semiconductor ecosystem, ensuring the necessary skills and resources for the success of these initiatives.

Thus, the company Continental Automotive Romania SRL received funding for the production of energy-efficient intelligent transducers for car systems (innovation along the value chain). The project brings several innovations through the use of new automotive electronic technologies. The budget that Continental Automotive Romania SRL has in mind for the development of this project is 1.211 billion RON, of which the value of non-refundable funds eligible through the PNRR is 371.93 million RON.

For its part, the Robert Bosch SRL company presented the project called Eurodrives, which aims to develop a European value chain of microelectronics for highly automated driving and green mobility. It entails the realization of an electronic platform for automated driving: domain controller of the driving assistance system for automation level 3 (AI-based deep learning algorithms), with artificial vision solutions (CDI), driving innovation campus automated, as well as the implementation of intelligent actuation solutions for electric vehicles (intelligent integrated actuator – CDI), the industrialization of intelligent actuators (establishment of the assembly line of actuators for electric cars in Blaj, Alba county). The value of the Robert Bosch SRL project is 1.764 billion RON, of which 170.6 million RON are non-refundable funds, eligible through PNRR.

NXP Semiconductors Romania received funding for the research and development of an integrated system System on a Chip – Senthicom, which involves the development of revolutionary products in the field of multi-domain digital radar in sub-20nm technology, design, prototypes and pilot manufacturing of advanced sensor systems, software embedded, (CDI), the development of a 5nm automotive processor, a software platform for the 5nm processor, (CDI), and the development of algorithms, IP blocks and system-on-chip solutions for 5G/6G telecommunications applications. The value of this project is 1.592 billion RON, of which 430.2 million RON are non-reimbursable funds, eligible through the PNRR.