German science and technology company Merck Group is investing €300m to expand its semiconductor manufacturing site in the US. The fresh capital will be injected into the company’s Hometown speciality gases facility in Pennsylvania, which Merck describes as the biggest in the world. Speciality gases are used during the manufacturing process of semiconductors. 

“Having domestic production capacity for critical electronics components has become a high priority for many economies. Our expansion plans will support our customers’ investments in the US and boost our overall global footprint of manufacturing facilities,” executive board member Kai Beckmann said at the deal’s April 12 announcement. 

The expansion is part of Merck’s pledge in 2021 to invest more than €3bn in innovation and capacity expansion projects by 2025.

Biden expects ‘significant investment’ for Northern Ireland

US president Joe Biden has said the post-Brexit pact between the UK and EU will bring significant investment to Northern Ireland. His comments, made in a speech on April 12 during a visit to Belfast, refer to the Windsor Framework that was signed in February and clarifies trading rules between Northern Ireland and the UK.

“I believe the stability and predictability offered by this framework will encourage … significant investment in Northern Ireland,” Mr Biden said during a keynote address at Ulster University. 

He added that there are “scores of major American corporations” wanting to invest in Northern Ireland, and that Belfast is “poised to drive unprecedented economic opportunity and investment” from the UK, Ireland and the US. 

ACEN invests in Laos’s first wind farm

The Philippines’ Ayala Group has taken a 24% stake in Laos’s first wind farm, known as Monsoon Wind, which is under construction. Ayala is investing in the $1bn project via its subsidiary ACEN Renewables International, and alongside other investors including Thailand’s Impact Electrons Siam and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation. 

Electricity from the 600 megawatt wind farm will be sold to neighbouring Vietnam, making it the first cross-border wind in southeast Asia. 

In a statement announcing the investment on April 10, Patrice Clausse, chief executive officer of ACEN International, said the project “unlocks a new avenue of providing more power to Vietnam while serving as a catalyst for more cross-border power sharing in the region”.

And finally: French renewables firm Voltalia will invest 4bn reais ($804m) in Brazilian clean energy projects over the next four years, the head of its local subsidiary Helexia Brasil, Aurelien Maudonnet, told Bloomberg.