The construction of a wafer plant planned by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in Kaohsiung will begin in June after the site passed an environmental impact assessment in mid-April, the Kaohsiung City government said Saturday.

In a statement, the city said the factory will be built in an industrial park in the city’s Nanzih District after the factory site is released to TSMC in May for the company’s use.

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (???) said his administration on Saturday approved the plan to set up the Nanzih industrial park and that the presence of TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, reflected Kaohsiung’s ambition to become a high-tech city.

The construction site had been the home of state-owned oil supplier CPC Corp. Taiwan’ fifth naphtha cracker complex, which was closed in 2015.

The Kaohsiung Economic Development Bureau has made efforts in recent years to rehabilitate the 29.8-hectare site by removing pollutants from the soil and building new infrastructure.

Chen said the development of the industrial park will proceed alongside the construction of the new TSMC plant.

According to Deputy Kaohsiung Mayor Lo Ta-sheng (???), work on roads, parks, a wastewater treatment facility, a power distribution network and detention basins in the industrial park will also start in June.

TSMC announced its plan to set up a 12-inch wafer plant in Kaohsiung in November 2021.

According to the company, the complex will use its advanced 7 nanometer process and its mature 28nm process to roll out chips.

Chips made on the 7nm process are expected to be used in emerging technologies such as high performance computing devices, while chips on the 28nm process are likely destined for automotive electronic applications, analysts said.

While TSMC has not disclosed any financial terms for the new facility, analysts said it could cost NT$200 billion to NT$300 billion.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel