Infineon Technologies said it was forced to halt manufacturing operations at its chip factory in Dresden, Germany, due to a 20-minute power outage in the capital of Saxony.

At a press conference last Friday (Sept. 17), Jochen Hanebeck, a member of the management board and COO of Infineon, confirmed the manufacturing interruption at the company’s chip factory in Dresden on Sept. 13, 2021. He declared, “We had winter storms in Texas and Covid [constraints] at many sites. You would believe that eventually you have covered all statistical improbabilities but, on Monday, the power supply was down for twenty minutes. The emergency generators started up, but they can only keep up with the relevant systems*.”

Hanebeck outlined that “there was never a risk for human beings or for laborers or for the environment.”

The Neubiberg, Germany-based company said it was quickly able to resume production, but assessing the impact will take some time. “Many facilities went into an emergency stop status, but now most of the facilities are up and running again. What the colleagues have to do now is to evaluate the work in progress, the semi-finished products. In one or two weeks, we will be able to say more to our customers. The impact will be less [important] than in Austin.”

For the third quarter of 2021 fiscal year, ended June, 2021, Infineon generated revenues of €2,722 million, up 1% on a sequential basis and 25% on an annual basis. Pandemic-related constraints on the group’s production capacity in Melaka, Malaysia, and the impact of the winter storm in Austin, Texas, indeed mitigated the effect of the strong demand.

According to the Associated Press, German authorities said a metal foil balloon caused a short-circuit at an electricity substation in Dresden shortly after 2 p.m., causing a power outage that affected hospitals, trams, factories, and about 300,000 households.

Robert Bosch and GlobalFoundries also operate chip factories in Dresden.

By: DocMemory
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