A Taiwan Power Company (Taipower,
The underground cable -- the power lifeline to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (
The accident cut TSMC's main power supply from 2:45 pm to 10:10pm on Saturday, and full production capacity didn't return to normal until yesterday afternoon. The severed line connected Fab 8 to its power source -- science park private power generator, Hsin Yu Energy Development Co (
Several of the parks major chip manufacturers use Hsin Yu as an alternative to an often unstable power supply from Taipower. TSMC has six eight-inch wafer plants and two six-inch wafer plants in Taiwan.
While the local media speculated losses from the shutdown could be between NT$50 million and NT$100 million (US$1.55 million and US$3.1 million), TSMC spokesman Tzeng Jing-hao (曾晉皓) said, "We will need several days to accurately measure the loss."
According to local media reports, chipmakers United Manufacturing Corporation (UMC, 聯電) and Powerchip Semiconductors Corp (力晶) also experienced voltage irregularities, as they too depend on Hsin Yu for power.
TSMC was anything but happy at the news, saying they will seek compensation from the responsible party.
"We won't let Taipower just walk away from this one," said Tzeng.
But Taipower officials appeared to already be skirting blame on Sunday, saying that their subcontractors -- Chung Chi Company (
"We examined [underground power] blueprints and got TSMC and Hsin Yu's approval before we began digging," said an unidentified Taipower official.
According to a Hsinchu Science Park Administration (竹科管理局) statement issued after the incident, "We examined the blueprints and found them to be in error."
"The position of the Taipower lines [to be unearthed] or Hsin Yu's lines on the blueprint were drawn incorrectly," said the statement.
The news does not bode well for government authorities, who are fighting a battle to keep the major high-tech players from moving abroad where the supply of electricity is considered more stable.
"The government has a responsibility to provide a well-established environment for industry. Power stability is an important part of that responsibility," said Tzeng.
The science park was plagued with over 40 power outages in 2000 alone.
TSMC, the world's largest made-to-order semiconductor manufacturer, reported revenues totaling NT$166 billion (US$5.1 billion) last year.
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