AMSTERDAM, May 14 (Reuters) - Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC

plans to start construction of its first European

facility in the fourth quarter of 2024, it said on Tuesday.

At a conference in the Netherlands, TSMC's European chief

Paul de Bot said the facility in the German city of Dresden,

known as European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (ESMC), was on

track for construction to begin this year with production in

2027.

Last August TSMC announced plans for the $11 billion factory

in Germany, with Infineon , NXP, and Robert

Bosch each taking a 10% stake.

Kevin Zhang, who oversees TSMC's international

operations, told reporters he believes a subsidy for the

facility under the European Chips Act will be approved, though

that has yet to happen.

"We have very strong European government -- European

Union -- and German government backing, we're very confident we

should be able to get good support there."

"It's a very exciting time for (the) European Semiconductor

ecosystem ... (with TSMC coming) directly to the backyard of

major automotive customers."

Zhang said the Dresden fab would produce chips at the 22

nanometre production node, which it first introduced in the mid

2010s.

ESMC will "allow us to basically bring the most advanced MCU

technology to the heartland of automotive use," he said,

referring to microcontroller units which are used throughout

cars to control windows, windshield wipers, brakes, sensors and

more.

He did not rule out later expanding TSMC's investments

in Europe to include plants capable of making more advanced

chips, though that would have to be some years away.

He noted the company began building its first plant in Japan

in 2021 and this year it announced plans for a second, more

advanced Japanese plant.

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