Dutch government strengthens photonics technology in the Netherlands with support PhotonDelta
Cabinet advances €53.8 million contribution to National Growth Fund project PhotonDelta.
Published on November 26, 2024
The Dutch cabinet is bringing forward a contribution of €53.8 million for the National Growth Fund project PhotonDelta, which will further put the Netherlands on the map as a leading player in the global chip industry. Following a positive opinion from the National Growth Fund, this contribution is now being definitively granted earlier than planned. Photonic chips will make it possible to use light instead of electrons to build smaller, faster, and energy-efficient devices.
This investment is needed for the Dutch participation in the European consortium PIXEurope with which contract talks have started to make a pilot production line for integrated photonics. Components of this pilot plant are envisioned in both Eindhoven and Enschede. If the international negotiations for this participation succeed, the Cabinet itself, with the approval of the European Union, intends to publicly invest €66.3 million in this. In total, there is an intended investment in PIXEurope from 11 countries and the European Commission of € 380 million. It is expected that € 133 million of the total amount for this pilot production line will be invested within the Netherlands.
Key to sustainable technological innovation
PhotonDelta focuses on the development of photonic chips, which enable applications such as rapid disease diagnostics, safe self-driving vehicles, and more efficient food production. Photonics allows devices to be developed smaller, faster, and more energy efficient. The PhotonDelta program, which now includes hundreds of startups, researchers, and manufacturers, aims to give the Netherlands a leading role in the global photonics market.
Additional investment and European cooperation
The €53.8 million now finally awarded is a crucial part of the Dutch participation in PIXEurope, a European consortium setting up a pilot production line for integrated photonics. Upon successful completion of the international negotiations surrounding this participation, an investment of €66.3 million is expected from the European Union in the Netherlands. This contribution will require national co-financing, with an additional €12.5 million coming from regular resources of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in addition to the Growth Fund investment. With these steps, the Netherlands can significantly strengthen its photonics value chain and further expand its position in the European lead.
Europe chooses pilot photonic chip factory in the Netherlands
The Netherlands will soon have a European facility for the development of photonic chips.