The continued drought has caused TSMC to face a more serious water shortage problem

Recently, the drought situation in Taiwan has become more and more serious, especially in the Hsinchu area. According to a Wccftech report, the regional authority stated that if there is still no rainfall of at least 100 mm by the end of May, the highest level of water restriction measures will be implemented for the region from June 1st.

To put it simply, the city will be divided into two parts and the water supply will be supplied alternately. During the water cut-off period, households or businesses need to collect water from designated locations. The water comes from desalination or other areas with relatively abundant water resources. There are a large number of semiconductor companies in the area, including TSMC, of course, but the water supply for these types of companies will not stop. At the same time, TSMC also adopted various methods to deal with it, such as increasing the volume of water tanker trucks to ensure production. It is understood that TSMC needs to use more than 100 water tankers every day, bringing at least 20 tons of water.

Water shortage is only one of the problems. The peak period of power consumption in summer is approaching. Power shortage is also a problem that semiconductor companies need to face. Due to previous power accidents, the tight power supply has become more vulnerable. At present, a certain degree of rolling power outages is being carried out in Taiwan, to ensure the production of semiconductor companies.

In addition to lack of water and electricity, TSMC has to face the intensification of the coronavirus epidemic. According to DigiTimes, after a confirmed case appeared in TSMC’s fab on May 22, an additional employee was diagnosed today. TSMC stated that this employee is a mildly ill patient and has provided necessary assistance at present, and its operations will not be affected temporarily.