Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it would strive to meet electricity demand amid speculation that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) might build “Angstrom-era” facilities at the Longtan (龍潭) campus of the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區).
Taipower would make every effort to meet the electricity needs of the technology sector at Longtan, while advancing power generation development and grid deployment, company chairman Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said at a forum in Taipei.
The Hsinchu Science Park Bureau on Monday said that TSMC is seeking government approval for an advanced wafer fab at the park’s Longtan campus.
Photo: CNA
If the company is planning to build an Angstrom-era facility as expected, that means it is seeking to improve the precision of chipmaking to less than 2 nanometer scale.
Development plans for science parks are typically coordinated with Taipower in advance, allowing the company to plan power facilities and grid infrastructure based on expected demand, while also working with central and local governments, Tseng said.
Large-scale power plant projects typically take six to eight years to complete, far longer than the one to two-year expansion cycles seen in the artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor industries, Taipower vice president Cheng Ching-hung (鄭慶鴻) said.
Therefore, planning and construction of power plant projects must begin in advance, otherwise reserve capacity could be reduced by about 1 percentage point — equivalent to about 400,000 kilowatts, Cheng said.
The current wave of AI development is expected to drive unprecedented growth in electricity demand, with annual increases over the next five years estimated at 2.5 times that of the past decade, posing a major challenge to Taiwan’s power system and prompting Taipower to step up investment, he said.
Meanwhile, Tseng said that the company is undertaking environmental impact assessments and independent safety inspections for the restart of the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春).
Independent safety checks at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant are expected to begin later this month, he said.
However, a main challenge for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant is the large volume of spent fuel rods still stored in the reactor core, which must be removed before further safety inspections can proceed, he added.
As for the procurement of nuclear fuel, it also requires close coordination with original suppliers, as they cannot be purchased on the spot market, unlike coal or natural gas, Tseng said.
In addition, fuel loading and transportation require regulatory approval first, with the process proceeding in accordance with safety requirements and regulations, he said.
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