Kaohsiung (CNA), April 13th, 2013 – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has taken a step forward with its plan to build a factory at Kaohsiung after it passed an environmental impact assessment.
After two hours of discussion, the city’s environment committee passed Tuesday’s environmental impact assessment of the plan by the local government to transform a Nanzih District oil refinery into an industrial area. This will be the site for TSMC’s new fab facility.
Three conditions were attached to the approval, including the establishment of an environmental monitoring panel that is based on standards established by Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration, the increase in air quality monitoring spots and construction of an underground water monitoring/testing facility.
The Kaohsiung Economic Development Bureau approved Tuesday’s approval. It said it would license the creation of an industrial park by the end April, rent land, and grant a plant building license to TSMC May.
The construction of public facilities in the industrial park and TSMC’s new factory in the park is expected to begin simultaneously in June. This will ensure that the world’s largest contract chipmaker can open its doors in July 2023 as planned.
The factory will make 7-nanometer- and 28-nanometer-chips, with production expected to start in 2024.
TSMC stated that it was pleased to see the positive assessment of the site’s fab project’s environmental impact. It promised it would continue to make efforts to conserve energy and water and reduce waste as part its “green production” program to protect the environment.
The company didn’t comment on Tuesday on the datelines, as it is required to keep quiet prior to its Thursday investors’ conference.
On Tuesday, Taoyuan’s New Applied Materials Co., a supplier to TSMC, opened its new factory for advanced semiconductor production materials in the Kaohsiung branch at the Southern Taiwan Science Park.
According to the company, the new plant is expected to produce NT$2 trillion annually.
(By Hung Hsueh-kuang, Chang Chien-chung and Elizabeth Hsu)
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