A total of 151 manufacturers in the nation’s industrial and export processing zones were affected by a power outage and rationing measures on Tuesday, with combined direct and indirect losses totaling more than NT$87 million (US$2.87 million), the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The estimate excluded manufacturers at science parks, data from which the Ministry of Science and Technology is responsible for gathering, the Industrial Development Bureau said.
The data also excluded losses incurred by Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), which has plants in Kaohsiung’s Nantze Export Processing Zone, as the firm is to file with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the bureau said.
“This [sum] is a preliminary calculation. We will continue to gather information, compile figures with the Ministry of Science and Technology and present a final report to the Cabinet soon,” a bureau official said by telephone.
Excluding ASE, the operations of 32 companies in export processing zones were disrupted by the power outage, leading to combined losses of more than NT$14 million, the bureau said.
A total of 119 manufacturers in industrial zones suffered direct losses of NT$41.59 million and indirect losses of more than NT$31.88 million, it added.
ASE, the world’s largest chip tester and packager, said the supply of power was suspended to its K21 and K22 plants in Nantze for about one hour on Tuesday night due to Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower, 台電) rationing measures.
The rationing resulted in production losses of between US$500,000 and US$800,000 at the two facilities, ASE said, adding that it was still evaluating the total losses from the incident.
“Overall, the incident did not have a significant impact on ASE’s operations,” the firm said in a statement.
ChipMOS Technologies Inc (南茂), the second-largest LCD driver IC packaging and testing service provider in the world, said its production lines were suspended for nearly three hours on Tuesday night.
However, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that the suspension did not have major impact on its operations and that the affected plant returned to normal production in about an hour.
Separately yesterday, Taipower unveiled its compensation package for the incident, saying that it would deduct one day’s worth of electricity fees for 5.92 million users — 1.54 million affected by the sudden power outage on Tuesday afternoon and 4.38 million affected by rationing that night.
The compensation is to be provided to households, small businesses and commercial and industrial users, the state-run utility said.
The deduction is to be reflected in next month’s electricity bill, Taipower said, adding that total compensation is expected to reduce its income from power fees by NT$360 million.
Taipower earlier in the day said that the nation’s power supply had stabilized after several generators resumed operations following repairs.
A coal-fired generator operated by Ho-Ping Power Co (和平電力) in Hualien County that broke down early on Tuesday — just three days after resuming operations — was reconnected to the nation’s power grid yesterday morning, Taipower said.
Six generators at a power plant in Taoyuan’s Datan Township (大潭) had resumed normal operations on Tuesday night after their supply of natural gas was accidentally cut off for two minutes in the afternoon, it added.
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