Awards & Certifications

2022/09

CTCI Helps Top Chipmaker TSMC Save Water With the Industry's First Industrial Wastewater Reclamation Plant for Chip Use

TAIPEI, September 19, 2022- Leading engineering, procurement, and construction group CTCI announced today the operation start-up of the TSMC Southern Taiwan Science Park Water Reclamation Plant, an industrial wastewater reclamation plant dedicated to supplying reclaimed water to the chip-making process through bio-treatment, ultra-filter, and reverse osmosis technologies. TSMC Southern Taiwan Science Park Water Reclamation Plant is the industry's first reclaimed water plant that uses innovative green technology to successfully regenerate industrial wastewater and reuse it in the semiconductor process, effectively alleviating stress on the local water supply and setting a precedent in the recycling of water resources.



A ceremony marking the commencement of operations was held today, presided over by John T. Yu, CTCI Group Chairman. Notable attendees included Wei-che Huang, Mayor of Tainan City, and Arthur Chuang, Vice President of TSMC.



"Utilizing reclaimed water as a water resource is becoming increasingly important in achieving global sustainable development," said CTCI Group Chairman Yu during the operation start-up ceremony. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to join forces with TSMC, which shares our commitment and vision in terms of sustainability, to bring that dream to reality. I believe this water reclamation plant has set a brand new milestone in terms of water reuse and waste reduction."



"TSMC practices green manufacturing, is deeply engaged in water resource risk management and is committed to expanding diversified water resources," said TSMC Operations / Facility Vice President, Dr. Arthur Chang. "The TSMC Southern Taiwan Science Park Water Reclamation Plant is an important milestone in global green technology innovation. Together with CTCI, we have developed technology to successfully regenerate industrial wastewater to meet the process cleanliness standard in order for it to be reused in semiconductor production. TSMC looks forward to attracting other industries to jointly support the use of reclaimed water in order to accelerate the development of related industries and technologies and realize a more sustainable future."



CTCI was commissioned by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to design, build, own and operate the plant for the next 20 years, providing clean water for TSMC's chip-making business. The plant sources its influent from the wastewater generated from the chip-making process, as well as from the discharge of the science park's wastewater treatment plant. Currently, the plant can supply 5,000 tons of reclaimed water per day and will be able to supply up to 20,000 tons per day a year from now. Two other municipal wastewater reclamation plants, Yong-Kang and An-Ping, are being constructed and will join the initial plant, in stages, to supply additional reclaimed water.



This is a major milestone for the water-intensive chip industry, as TSMC's fabs inside STSP will now begin to receive at least 5,000 tons of reclaimed water per day and will receive 67,000 tons of reclaimed water per day by 2024, equivalent to 68% of the city water used by TSMC's fabs inside STSP in 2021.



CTCI, which has extensive experience in industrial wastewater treatment, adopts advanced bio-treatment technology to significantly cut down the amount of energy required for and the sludge produced from traditional aeration bio-treatment. As a result, the plant has less pollution, less energy consumption, and better water quality. For the future expansion of the plant, CTCI aims to utilize the residual heat from a nearby energy-from-waste plant to heat up the wastewater generated from the plant itself, and to condense and collect the vaporized steam to produce another 16,000 tons of reclaimed water per day.
John T. Yu, CTCI Group Chairman, speaks at the operation start-up ceremony.