Taipower will increase prices for large power consumers such as AI semiconductors and data centers

Abstract:

TSMC is the company with the largest chip foundry production capacity and the most advanced technology in the world. This also means a large amount of water and electricity consumption. Now the power companies cannot sustain it and will increase prices for large power-consuming users like TSMC. According to local media reports, power supplier Taipower Corporation’s plan in September was revealed,

It will increase prices for large power consumers such as AI semiconductors and data centers, with an increase of around 15-20%

TSMC is naturally the most affected by this wave of price increases, because their power consumption is so huge. The semiconductor industry accounts for 17.71% of Taipower's power generation, up to 52 billion kilowatt hours. In 2030 and 2035, this proportion will increase to 24% and 30%.

Among them, TSMC alone accounts for 9% of Taipower's power generation. This is no longer a simple problem of large customers. You must know that many power generation companies around the world have certain inclusive benefits. Taipower relies on many subsidies to maintain low electricity prices. However, the prices of natural gas and oil have soared this year, and the cost of power generation has increased by 60%. For large power consumers, raising prices is the only solution.

Although the production of semiconductor chips is high-tech, it also consumes resources such as water, electricity and chemicals. Water can also be solved by recycling water.

But electricity cannot be saved, especially as EUV production capacity accounts for an increasing proportion, power consumption remains high.

According to ASML data, the power of EUV lithography machines is around 1.3MW, and different models consume between 5-25KWh of electricity to process one wafer.

One EUV can consume 30MW in one day

TSMC now has almost 200 EUV lithography machines, and the annual power consumption is very staggering. TSMC announced that the annual power consumption in 2025 will be 28.77 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, about half of which is used for chip production, and the other half is for various support systems.