Renesas Electronics, a Japanese automotive chip manufacturer, announced a wafer supply agreement with Wolfspeed, an American semiconductor manufacturer. Renesas Electronics will deliver a deposit of US $2 billion to ensure the 10-year supply commitment of Wolfspeed silicon carbide bare wafers and epitaxial wafers. The 10-year supply agreement requires Wolfspeed to supply 150 mm silicon carbide bare wafers and epitaxial wafers produced on a large scale to Renesas Electronics from 2025.

Hidetoshi Shibata, president and CEO of Renesas Electronics, said: "The cooperation with Wolfspeed will bring long-term, stable and high-quality silicon carbide wafer supply to Renesas Electronics. In the future, we will continue to develop into a key player in the silicon carbide market."

Wolfspeed President and CEO Gregg Lowe believes that this agreement will help promote the application of silicon carbide in the automotive, industrial, and energy sectors.

It is understood that compared to traditional silicon power semiconductors, silicon carbide has characteristics such as high temperature resistance, high frequency resistance, and high pressure resistance, which have higher energy efficiency, greater power density, and lower system costs. Electric vehicles using silicon carbide chips can reduce the volume of the electric drive device to one-fifth, reduce the driving loss of electric vehicles by more than 60%, and significantly increase the mileage under the same battery capacity.

Relevant information shows that Wolfspeed will supply 200 mm bare silicon carbide wafers and epitaxial wafers to Renesas Electronics after the John Palmour silicon carbide manufacturing center in North Carolina, the United States, is fully operational.