Environment

Taiwan’s energy crunch could ‘throw a wrench’ into the global semiconductor industry

Published

1 year ago

June 10, 2024

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A chip made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company

TSMC

Taiwan, the world’s semiconductor powerhouse, is facing a power crunch — and this could spell trouble for chipmakers.

Manufacturing chips requires a lot of energy and electricity, and the government is struggling to meet the island’s energy needs.

“Concerns over potential power shortages and the deterioration of power quality and reliability could pose operational risks for the semiconductor industry,” Chen Jong-Shun, assistant research fellow at Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, told CNBC.

There were three major outages in Taiwan in the past seven years, and the island has experienced a slew of smaller disruptions in the past year.

As recently as April, in Northern Taiwan alone, multiple power shortages were recorded over three days, according to local reports.

In 2022, there were 313 power outage incidents. A big power outage that year affected more than 5 million households, while another massive blackout in 2017 hit almost 7 million households.

“Taiwan has both an energy crunch and, even more importantly, an electricity crunch,” said Joseph Webster, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center.

Electricity squeeze

More than 97% of Taiwan’s energy needs are imported, and come primarily from coal and gas. The heavy reliance on other countries renders the island vulnerable to energy supply disruptions, experts told CNBC.

While the outages are partly due to an aging grid, the electricity crunch is largely the result of Taiwan’s underpriced electricity bills, which drives up demand and leads to supply shortfalls, Webster added.

While Taiwan recently hiked electricity rates by 15% for large industrial users, the rates for residential consumption remain unchanged.

Today’s electricity bills are cheaper than what they were 20 years ago, according to Taiwan’s Economic Ministry. Meanwhile, global commodity prices have soared.

As a result, Taiwan Power Company, or Taipower, has been racking up losses. The state-owned company reported a pre-tax loss of $6.3 billion in 2023, after an even bigger loss was recorded in 2022.

“Taipower has been losing money, which also raises concerns about potential power disruptions for both the semiconductor industry and the overall Taiwanese economy,” Michelle Brophy, director of research at market intelligence platform AlphaSense.

For one, with electricity prices rising for semiconductor firms, the higher costs are expected to be passed on to consumers, according to Brophy.

Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has disclosed it will will pass on cost increases to customers, in order to protect the company’s profit margin.

Implications for the chip sector

Taiwan’s industrial consumers accounted for over 55% of its electricity consumption in 2023, according to the Atlantic Council’s Webster. These consumers, including semiconductor firms, often require constant and reliable access to electricity.

“If Taiwan is forced to ration electricity more frequently in the future due to limited supplies, its semiconductor firms will suffer,” he added.

Any energy disruption will slow down chipmaking and raise global semiconductor prices, Webster said.

“Taiwan’s electricity crunch could throw a wrench in global semiconductor markets,” he said, adding that interruptions could reverberate across the global industry.

TSMC, the world’s largest manufacturer of advanced chips, accounts for about 60% of the global foundry revenue. The company is integral in the ongoing generative AI boom, and counts tech giants like Apple and Nvidia as clients.

The global semiconductor manufacturing industry is estimated to double its market size in revenue by 2030, and is poised to consume 237 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity by then, a Greenpeace report said.

If Taiwan is forced to ration electricity more frequently in the future due to limited supplies, its semiconductor firms will suffer.

Joseph Webster

Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center

Electricity consumption from Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturing industry is set to increase 236% between 2021 and 2030, the same report found.

“The global electricity industry has been surprised by the pace and scale of electricity demand from artificial intelligence’s data centers,” said Webster, adding that Taiwan’s future electricity consumption is subject to “considerable uncertainty.”

Taiwan’s government plans electricity supply based on the needs of a few major companies, said Chen from Chung-Hua Institution.

Still, meeting Taiwan’s energy needs is an uphill task.

“Taiwan has struggled to meet its power infrastructure goals due to land constraints, overly ambitious and rigid policies, and a lack of understanding and ability to address power shortages,” Chen added

This raises further concerns among businesses about the reliability of future power supply commitments to major tech firms.

“Power is an ongoing issue in the sector,” especially due to Taiwan’s outsized influence on the semiconductor industry, said Brophy.

Environment

US Customs delays force solar giant Qcells to furlough 1,000 workers

Published

15 hours ago

November 7, 2025

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US Customs delays force solar giant Qcells to furlough 1,000 workers

Solar panel giant Qcells announced today that it’s temporarily furloughing 1,000 US workers – 25% of its workforce – and reducing pay and shifts at its factories in northeast Georgia due to supply chain delays caused by US Customs.

Qcells furloughs 1,000 workers

The supply chain delays are hindering the company’s ability to import components to build its solar panels. This has resulted in Qcells’ two factories in Cartersville and Dalton being unable to operate at full capacity for several months.

Qcells spokeswoman Marta Stoepker shared the following statement in an exclusive with Channel 2 Action News in Atlanta:

The company says the furloughed workers, who were notified this afternoon, will retain full benefits and won’t be laid off. However, Qcells will no longer be using staffing agency employees in Georgia “at this time.”

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As Qcells introduced new supply chains to support its growing solar panel manufacturing facilities in Georgia, the company was recently forced to scale back production while our shipments into the US were delayed in the customs clearance process.

Although our supply chain operations are beginning to normalize, today we shared with our employees that HR actions must be taken to improve operational efficiency until production capacity returns to normal levels.

Stoepker said it expects to bring the furloughed workers back “in the coming weeks and months.” She continued:

Our commitment to building the entire solar supply chain in the United States remains. We will soon be back on track with the full force of our Georgia team delivering American-made energy to communities around the country.

Electrek’s Take

In January 2023, the Seoul-headquartered Qcells announced it would invest more than $2.5 billion to build a solar supply chain in Georgia – the largest-ever investment in clean energy manufacturing in the US to date. That included expanding the Dalton solar factory and building a fully integrated solar supply chain factory in Cartersville, Georgia, that will manufacture solar ingots, wafers, cells, and finished panels.

It’s not quite there yet, because that takes time. In the meantime, it’s being penalized by Customs. The US government under Trump says it’s keen on boosting domestic manufacturing. Why would it work against a company that’s onshoring an entire solar supply chain, including recycling?

Dalton and Cartersville employ nearly 4,000 people. Its total output will reach 8.4 GW of solar production capacity per year, which is equivalent to nearly 46,000 panels per day – enough to power approximately 1.3 million homes annually.

It’s ludicrous that it has been forced to furlough a quarter of its workforce due to the ineptness of the Trump administration’s US Customs policies. This is right up there with the ICE arrests at Hyundai’s plant in Georgia. Bravo.

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Environment

Toyota is yet again delaying EV battery plans

Published

16 hours ago

November 7, 2025

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Toyota is yet again delaying EV battery plans

The breakthrough EV batteries Toyota says will double driving range and cut charging times are facing another setback. The company is once again delaying plans for a new battery plant in Japan.

Why is Toyota delaying its EV battery plant this time?

Earlier this year, Toyota bought a 280,000-square-meter plot of land in Fukuoka, Japan, where it planned to build a plant to produce the more advanced EV batteries.

A location agreement was expected to be signed by April, but Toyota pushed back construction by several months, blaming slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.

The agreement was expected to be finalized this Fall, but that will no longer be the case. According to Nikkei, Toyota is delaying the EV battery plant for the second time. Toyota will review and adjust plans over the next year.

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Fukuoka governor, Seitaro Hattori, confirmed the news with reporters on Friday following a meeting with Toyota’s president, Koji Sato. Hattori also shut down claims that Toyota was planning to scrap the battery plant altogether.

Toyota again blamed slowing EV demand for the delay. The decision comes despite Keiji Kaita, president of Toyota’s Carbon Neutral Advanced Engineering Development Center, confirming at the Japan Mobility Show just last week that it’s “sticking on the schedule” to introduce its first solid-state battery-powered EV by 2028.

Last month, Toyota said it aimed to “achieve the world’s first practical use of all-solid-state batteries in BEVs” after securing a partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. to mass-produce them. It’s also working with Japanese oil giant Idemitsu.

Toyota-solid-state-battery-EV — Idemitsu’s value chain for solid electrolytes used in all-solid-state EV batteries (Source: Idemitsu)

The company recently revealed a solid-state battery pack prototype that it claims can deliver 747 miles (1,200 km) range and 10-minute fast charging, but will we ever see it actually in production?

Electrek’s Take

Toyota has been making empty promises about EV batteries for almost a decade now. It initially planned to introduce solid-state EV batteries in 2020, then pushed it to 2023, then 2026, and now it’s saying it will be around 2028.

Mass production is likely closer to the end of the decade, if Toyota doesn’t delay it again. While it’s blaming the slowing demand, global EV sales are still on the rise. According to Rho Motion, global EV sales topped 2 million for the first time in a single month in September 2025. Through the first nine months of the year, EV sales are up 26% compared to the same period in 2024.

Even with the US ending the $7,500 federal tax credit and other policies designed to promote electric vehicles, global adoption will continue building momentum over the next few years.

Is it a demand issue, or is Toyota just looking for another excuse? With rivals like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, BMW, and Honda advancing next-gen EV batteries, Toyota will only fall further behind if it continues delaying key projects.

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Environment

Podcast: Tesla is now Elon’s, Xpeng goes AI, Rivian earnings, and more

Published

17 hours ago

November 7, 2025

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Podcast: Tesla is now Elon's, Xpeng goes AI, Rivian earnings, and more

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss how Tesla is now Elon’s after the shareholders’ meeting, Xpeng going all-in on AI, Rivian’s earnings, and more.

The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

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We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:

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