Recently, the topic of the global semiconductor industry is definitely’water’, and the Samsung Electronics foundry plant in Austin, USA, has stopped due to’water shortage’ following a cut in power supply due to a cold wave. Because of the strong cold in Texas, rivers freeze and water pipes are frozen, making water supply difficult. It is said that TSMC, a Taiwanese foundry company, is also worried about water. This is because the Taiwanese government is implementing’water conservation measures’ due to the severe winter drought. Why should semiconductor factories be worried about shutting down or shutting down due to water?
A water supply that broke down due to a cold wave in Austin, USA. Photo = AP
If there is no’ultra-pure water’ that removes impurities, the semiconductor factory should stop
This is because ten thousand tons of water per day enters most semiconductor production processes. Semiconductor companies use’ultrapure water’, which removes impurities from industrial water, into the process.
Ultrapure water is used in cleaning to wash wafers and semiconductors or in etching processes to cut wafers. The reason why highly purified water is used is because semiconductors react sensitively to impurities in units of’micrometers (μm: 1 μm = 1 millionth of a meter)’. An official in the semiconductor industry explained that “clean water is essential to increase the yield (the ratio of good products among products).”
The amount of water used by domestic semiconductor factories is hundreds of thousands of tons per plant. It is known that major production plants of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are using more than 100,000 tons of industrial water a day. Samsung Electronics’ Giheung and Hwaseong plants require 160,000 tons, SK Hynix Cheongju M15 tons, 150,000 tons, and SK Hynix’s Icheon plant, which is building an M16 plant, requires a total of 230,000 tons. Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek 4-6 units, which are scheduled to start construction, will cost 250,000 tons per day, and 260,000 tons per day in SK Hynix’s Yongin cluster.
Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek factory under construction. Hankyung DB
From the stage of planning a new factory, semiconductor companies deal most importantly with the supply of electricity and water procurement. Let’s look at the semiconductor factory of Samsung Electronics in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do. Samsung Electronics completed the first factory (P1) that produces the latest memory semiconductors in 2017. Recently, the second plant (P2) is under construction, where a foundry (consigned semiconductor production) and a memory production line will be built together.
From the stage of planning a new factory, semiconductor companies deal most importantly with the supply of electricity and water procurement. Pyeongtaek City is supplying 220,000 tons of industrial water per day to Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek semiconductor plant. This is the water needed for Plant 1, Plant 2, and Plant 3 under construction. Samsung Electronics and Pyeongtaek City prepared 10 years to supply this water.
Samsung Electronics is currently preparing a plan to start construction of factories 4~6 in Pyeongtaek. Samsung Electronics requested an additional 250,000 tons of water per day from 2025 to Pyeongtaek City last year. Procuring additional water is not an easy task. Even if a water source is secured, various variables such as collective complaints may arise in the process of bringing water to Pyeongtaek. Pyeongtaek City is actively considering building a large-scale water purification plant near the Oseong River in a local river and sending water to Samsung Electronics.
SK Hynix, which has decided on a plan to build four semiconductor factories at a cost of 120 trillion won on a site of 4.48 million square meters (about 1.35 million pyeong) in Wonsam-myeon, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, is also fighting a’water war’. As one of the measures to secure water, SK Hynix and Yongin City reviewed a plan to draw 260,000 tons of industrial water a day from Paldang Waterworks to Hanam and Yongin, but received official opposition from Hanam City last year. The cause is strong opposition from local governments and residents.
Insufficient water after electricity in the cold in the US
What is the current situation at the Samsung Electronics Austin Foundry Plant? According to the Austin local media and Samsung Electronics, electricity, which had been cut off since the 17th, is being supplied to a certain level. Nevertheless, the timing of the plant operation is still undecided. Because of’water’.
The water shortage in the Austin area was severe. This is because the river freezes and the water pipes are frozen. From the 20th, a measure of’emergency water restrictions’ was implemented. The city government advised to “boil and drink water.” It was recommended that water with sediment should not be used for cooking purposes.
The emergency water restrictions were lifted from 8 am on the 24th. The recommendation to boil water was also lifted from the same point. It is known that the water network has not been completely restored. The city government is operating’public water supply facilities’ in areas where frozen water pipes have not been restored.
Workers hired by the city are recovering a water pipe that broke down in a cold wave in Austin, USA on the 19th. Photo = AP
Samsung Electronics has not operated a semiconductor plant until now. A Samsung Electronics official said that it is necessary to continuously monitor whether water is supplied stably. If the water supply is cut off again after a premature operation of the plant, the plant must be stopped, which can lead to losses that are difficult to recover. Samsung Electronics judges that it is better to wait until the supply and demand situation of electricity and water is perfect, rather than tinkering with a factory operation.
When a semiconductor factory stops “suddenly”, all wafers on the production line must be discarded. A typical case is the power outage that occurred at Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek plant in March 2018. At that time, the power was cut for 40 minutes. Initially, it was known that there was no damage through the operation of the emergency generator, but the actual emergency power supply time was only 15-20 minutes. The power supply was completely cut off for at least 20 minutes and the clean vacuum in the clean room collapsed. The products in the line were ruined by covering up the dust. The products that were in the deposition process of coating a thin film on a semiconductor were also hardened and could not be used. When a minimum of 30,000 and a maximum of 60,000 3D NANDs based on a 300mm wafer suffered losses in the production process, the damage was estimated to be 50 billion won.
As the Austin plant has been shut down for ten days, supply uncertainty in the semiconductor market is growing. According to the semiconductor industry, the Austin plant is known to receive orders from various customers such as Intel, Qualcomm, Tesla, and NXP to produce various items such as display driving chips, semiconductors for smartphones, and semiconductors for communication.
In the semiconductor industry, the Austin plant’s output is estimated at 100,000 sheets per month based on the input of 300mm wafers. Market research firm Trend Force analyzed that “The Austin Fab’s 12-inch wafer capacity accounts for 5% of global production,” and “It is predicted that the global 12-inch capacity will decrease by 1-2% due to the discontinuation of operation.”
Samsung Electronics is currently inspecting the conditions for stable restart by dispatching the head office and the workforce of partners to Austin.
TSMC in Taiwan is’all positive’ over water shortage due to drought
If Samsung Electronics’ US plant is suffering from water shortages due to a cold wave, rival Taiwanese TSMC is unable to supply as much water as desired due to drought. According to foreign media such as Reuters and Bloomberg, the Taiwanese government has ordered “reduce the use of industrial water by 11%” in the central and northern regions of TSMC plants such as Hsinchu and Taichung. It is known that the water pressure has been lowered even in the southern regions where the situation is better.
Taiwan’s drought is a serious situation. Normally, Taiwan survives winter drought by stockpiling rain from the passing of typhoons from June to September of the year. In central Taiwan, rainfall from June last year to January last year was only 49% of the average for the past 20 years. Currently, the water level in the reservoir in southern and central Taiwan has dropped to the usual 40% level.
A view of the reservoir in Taiwan last January when the water level was lowered due to drought. Internet capture
TSMC’s daily water consumption (as of 2019) is 156,000 tons. It accounts for 10.3% of the daily industrial water supply in Hsinchu.
According to Bloomberg, TSMC has officially stated that “there is no big problem with water use.” But the situation is getting worse. According to local foreign media, TSMC has started to procure external water. They hire dozens of trucks loaded with 20 ton water tanks and deliver about 3000 tons of industrial water a day. It is known that the water price and transportation costs are around 1 million won per truck. TSMC’s headquarters instructed each plant to’stock at least two days worth of water’.
Taiwanese media said, “Semiconductor companies are only wishing for rain from the sky.”
Reporter Hwang Jeong-soo [email protected]