Taiwan has severe drought, TSMC is having to hire water trucks to transport water to each factory

Taiwan, a key hub in the global tech supply chain for giants like Apple, will begin reducing water supplies to factories in the cities of Central and South where companies are located. Big science member, from today, February 25. Water levels in some reservoirs in the central and southern regions of the island have been below 20%, after months of meager rainfall and a storm-free summer last year.

“We planned the worst,” Taiwan’s Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua told reporters on Tuesday. “We expect companies to reduce water usage by 7 to 11 percent.”

With limited rainfall forecast for the coming months, the Taiwan Water Corporation said this week the island had entered “the toughest time”.

Chip manufacturing takes a lot of water.

And Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chip maker, this week started ordering small amounts of truck-driven water to supply some of its facilities across the island. island.

“We are preparing for our future water needs, and describe this move as a pressure test”, the TSMC representative shared. The chip giant said it has seen no impact on production, after purchasing 3,600 tons of water.

In addition to TSMC, Taiwan-based semiconductor manufacturers such as UMC (United Microelectronics Corp) and VIS (Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation) are said to be buying large amounts of water as well. VIS said it has started a drill to transport water to its facilities in the city of Hsinchu, north of the island.

According to technology experts, Taiwan’s water shortage will not immediately affect semiconductor product prices, but if water scarcity continues, prices will inevitably rise.

Taiwanese tech companies have long complained about a chronic water shortage, exacerbated after factories expanded production following the Sino-US trade war.

TSMC’s Fab 5 at Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan.

Chip manufacturing uses a lot of water, especially when using Ultra Ultraviolet (EUV) technology. The Fab (Semiconductor Fabrication Plant) requires ultra-pure water to soak the print and also requires a large amount of water to cool the chip-making equipment itself.

Data from 2010 shows that a lithography system using EUV 200W technology will need 1,600 liters of water per minute, compared with the 75 liters / min for a conventional DUV printer. And even cutting EUV water usage in half, it is still 10 times greater than the water requirement for DUV. With TSMC, 5nm process outsourcing customers are using EUV, while most customers in 7nm and larger than 7nm are using DUV.

TSMC has begun to transport water from other sources to meet demand and has yet to see a drop in production. It is not clear whether the company is using locally stored water – the type of water that could be depleted – or if the company is drawing water from an off-island source. Water in bulk is not too easy to transport. And if what they have to transport is big enough, chip prices could start to rise. And that can clearly happen, especially with an island with unusual weather like Taiwan.

Refer to Reuters