Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. marked a milestone this week with a “tool-in” ceremony at its new semiconductor fab in north Phoenix while announcing a second such factory at the site. It’s an expensive, advanced and massive operation — and significant enough to attract President Joe Biden for a visit.
It’s also a landmark investment that will strengthen and expand metro Phoenix’s economy for years, especially as semiconductors are embraced in more applications, from appliances to artificial intelligence.
Here are five key things to know about the complex and the company.
1. The new factory is a big, high-tech marvel
The TSMC factory, or fab, is massive and will feature state-of-the-art technology when it begins commercial operation in 2024. It sits on more than 1,000 acres in north Phoenix just west of Interstate 17 along West Dove Valley Road — the huge cranes and new buildings are visible from the freeway. The campus measures nearly two miles by one mile and has enough space to fit six fabs, though only one is currently under construction, with the second slated to go up and start operations around 2026.
When complete, the first fab will feature the most advanced semiconductor-process technology in the U.S. The second will make even smaller, and thus more advanced, chips.
Between the two fabs, TSMC is sinking $40 billion into the projects. The company likely will qualify for federal grants under the CHIPS & Science Act when funding guidelines are announced early next year.
The fabs are expected to generate 21,000 construction jobs. They’re also going up with the help of one of the world’s largest cranes, a behemoth that workers must take apart and reassemble every time it moves to different job sites because it wouldn’t comfortably fit on even a two-lane highway.
2. TSMC will add more staff
The company already has added staff to work at the new complex, and that was before TSMC this week announced that it will more than double its Phoenix workforce from 2,000 initially to 4,500 or so within a few years.
Many of the jobs are technical, including engineers, some of whom have trained in Taiwan for 12 to 18 months.
“Before we see even a single wafer, we will have more than 1,000 people trained,” said Dr. Morris Chang, the company’s 91-year-old founder, who attended the ceremony marking Biden’s visit. That includes some Taiwanese citizens, too.
Keep reading:Here’s how giant semiconductor plant rising in north Phoenix will shape Arizona’s economy
Clearly, most of the positions are scientific and engineering in nature, but there are others. The company posts openings at tsmc.com, under the “careers” section. Recent job listings include those in accounting and customer support as well as memory-design managers and project managers.
“Over the next few years, (the TSMC complex) will create tens of thousands of high-paying jobs, many of which don’t require an advanced degree,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, who championed the CHIPS & Science Act.
Many university graduates, especially from Arizona State University’s Fulton Schools of Engineering, will land jobs with TSMC. But so will others, including graduates from Arizona’s community colleges, Kelly said.
3. Other companies will hire, too
The massive TSMC project already is attracting suppliers and other businesses to the Phoenix area. The hope among economic-development officials is that a tech-focused Silicon Desert region will develop, much like Silicon Valley became a cluster of software, computer and chipmaking companies in and around San Jose, California.
Metro Phoenix already has semiconductor fabs including those operated by two locally based, publicly traded corporations, On Semiconductor and Microchip Technology, along with the massive expansion of Intel’s campus in Chandler. The ability to develop a cluster of tech-related companies and thereby shorten supply chains that were strained during the COVID-19 pandemic is a major benefit of landing the TSMC project in Phoenix.
Related:Fueled by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, developer buys state land to build in Deer Valley
Dr. Mark Liu, TSMC’s chairman, predicted at least 40 supply companies will locate nearby, bringing thousands more jobs.
During his visit, President Biden cited a KORE Power facility in Buckeye as an example. The company will make lithium-ion battery cells there. But he also cited a small trucking business run by an African American woman and a cleaning service owned by a former Latino farmworker as signs that the economic benefits will spread widely.
“We’re building an economy that doesn’t leave anyone behind,” Biden said.
4. The fabs will make advanced, lucrative products
Between the first and second fabs, TSMC expects to produce 600,000 semiconductor wafers annually using the most advanced industrial processes in the U.S. Wafers are the thin, shiny disks from which individual semiconductors, or chips, are harvested. Semiconductors are what power finished products such as computers, cell phones, appliances, vehicles and aircraft.
The first fab will start producing four-nanometer chips in 2024. The second fab will follow with smaller and even more advanced three-nanometer chips starting in 2026. Those 600,000 or so wafers will generate annual revenue of around $10 billion, Liu said.
In addition to the 4,500 or so direct TSMC jobs and the 21,000 construction positions, TSMC expects that suppliers located in the region will hire another 13,000 people. A projection by the Greater Phoenix Economic Council estimates $770 million in direct tax revenue and $134 million in indirect tax revenue will flow to the state government over an 11-year period. It also projects the generation of more than $6 billion in personal income over that period.
Read more:What Joe Biden, other dignitaries saw on Taiwan Semiconductor factory tour in Phoenix
5. Sustainability is a priority
Building large, complex and thirsty factories in the desert presents challenges and raises concerns, but TSMC said it is making sustainability a priority.
The company said it anticipates minimal waste of energy or water, and little in the way of airborne emissions.
“This fab will be the greenest fab in the United States,” Liu said.
In particular, it will feature an on-site industrial water reclamation plant. In addition, solar panels will go up in the fab’s parking lots next year, providing shade for employee vehicles and enough electricity to power more than 2,700 homes.
The company hopes to recycle nearly all water, and it aims to reclaim more than 900,000 gallons of sulfuric acid, an industrial chemical that is used to clean and etch semiconductors.
Reach the writer at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.
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