International electronic business news on the 15th, the large wafer factory TSMC located in the 14th factory of Nanke yesterday (14th) at noon, and a sudden power outage caused the industry to worry. Although the power supply has been restored on the evening of the 14th, the current global semiconductor production capacity is seriously tight, and after the incident, it was reported that the incident "may affect the number of wafers between 30,000 and 60,000" has caused great concern in the industry. In this regard, TSMC responded like this...

According to international e-commerce news, Taiwan media reported that a sudden power outage occurred at noon at the 14th factory of TSMC in Nanke. The reason for the power outage is suspected to be caused by a power outage at the power supply end. Although the power has been restored after Taipower's emergency repair, it also affects the power supply voltage drop of each plant.

It is reported that this power outage is a power outage in the entire P7 area of TSMC's 14th plant, and the main process is 16 nanometers.

According to Taiwanese media, the unwarranted power outage at TSMC's Nanke wafer 14P7 plant was caused by the accidental digging of underground cables by the contractor of Nanke's new plant. It is understood that TSMC Nanke wafer 14P7 factory has resumed normal power supply in the evening of the 14th.

TSMC's emergency response on the 14th

Regarding the power outage reported at the TSMC Nanke Wafer 14 P7 factory today (14th), TSMC stated that the cause of the incident was the power outage in the factory area due to abnormal cables in the Nanke ultra-high voltage substation. The people were evacuated, and the diesel generators have been used to restore power. We have cooperated with Taipower to restore the normal power supply with all our strength. The actual impact will be clarified after the normal power supply is restored.

Another source pointed out that UMC Nanke’s 12-inch factory was also affected by TSMC’s power outage time and power supply voltage drop. However, UMC said that the factory immediately took emergency measures, which did not cause any impact on production and operations.

Before this, the 8-inch factory of UMC Zhuke Lixing also had a power outage accident in January this year. Due to the failure of the power transmission system that entered the factory, the power was suddenly cut off. At that time, the 8AB, 8C, and 8D factories were all affected and caused The large-scale power supply voltage drop in the park has affected TSMC, Macronix, and NSMC.

Related reading: Sudden power outage or affect 130,000 8-inch production capacity? UMC responds

The industry believes that the impact is smaller than that of the earthquake

Due to the severe shortage of global semiconductor production capacity, the extent to which unwarranted power outages will affect TSMC, which is full of production capacity, has attracted much attention from the industry, worrying that this incident may further aggravate the tight supply of chips.

In fact, after the power outage, some media speculated that in this incident, "the number of wafers affected by TSMC was 30,000 to 60,000, and the affected amount was within NT$100 million to 1 billion yuan", which caused concern in the industry.

However, International Electronic Commerce learned on the morning of the 15th that a Taiwanese media quoted a Taiwanese manufacturer's legal person's view that the TSMC power outage may affect thousands of wafers, and the amount will exceed NT$100 million. However, considering that There are insurance claims, and compared with the earthquake that will cause fragments and machine displacement, it is expected that the impact of the power outage will be less than that of the earthquake.

Central News Agency reported that a senior semiconductor industry legal person pointed out that the monthly production capacity of TSMC's Nanke wafer 14P7 factory is about 20,000 to 30,000 pieces, and the impact on the pickling tank will be greater. It will also be affected. It is roughly estimated that the affected wafers will be more than 1,000 wafers, and the amount will exceed NT$100 million.

He said that TSMC's Nanke wafer 14P7 factory has relatively diverse processes, including 12nm, 16nm and 40nm. The 40nm process production line was greatly affected by this incident, and the application products include wireless networks, wearable application processors and Microcontrollers etc.

Because TSMC has insurance, the amount of damage can be claimed by insurance. The legal person pointed out that as for customer product shipments, TSMC should be able to reduce the impact by accelerating production. He also made a policy that in order to ensure stable power supply, TSMC adopted a dual-circuit power supply system in the science park. This time, the power outage was caused by the contractor of the newly built factory accidentally digging the underground cable by mistake. It is difficult to completely avoid it, but it will not happen often.

The legal person pointed out that the power outage may cause the wafer to be scrapped, but compared with the earthquake that may cause fragmentation and the displacement of the machine, the impact on the manufacturer is relatively minor.

TSMC responded on the 15th: the impact is still uncertain, no comment on rumors

In this regard, TSMC emphasized at the legal meeting on the 15th that many speculations in the market are not the data provided by the company, and the actual impact of the power outage is currently being clarified.