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The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)'s advanced 2-nanometer chip manufacturing facility in Taiwan's Taichung City might be delayed if a technology park in the city does not pass a local government review by the end of this month. TSMC currently manufactures 3-nanometer chips, and the firm plans to start 2-nanometer mass production in 2025. Today's news comes after the Taiwanese firm's new chip manufacturing plant in America has been delayed by a year, with the company explaining that it will have to fly in workers from Taiwan to install high end machines at the site. The Taichung plant is one of several TSMC 2-nanometer facilities and has been in the works for quite some time.

TSMC's Kaohsiung 2-nanometer Manufacturing Facility Might Overtake The Taichung Plant

To build the 2-nanometer plant in Taichung City, the Zhong-ke science park where it will be built has to be approved by the city government. The park will feature TSMC's manufacturing facility as part of an extension currently being evaluated by the officials. According to the director of the China Science and Technology Management Bureau, Xu Maoxin, the second stage extension of the park has to be approved by the Taichung city government before the end of August if the land acquisition and development formalities are to be finished before the end of this year. However, if the review is not cleared by August end, then the construction schedule will also be delayed until 2024.

The science park extension has already seen multiple delays, and this latest bit of news comes just as TSMC also confirmed that new facilities it is building in Kaohsiung will be used to manufacture 2-nanometer chips. This confirmation is crucial since the Kaohsiung site has been rumored to produce the latest chips for two years as part of TSMC's roadmap of next-generation chip manufacturing plants.

TSMC's advanced process technology roadmap. Image: TSMC

TSMC had initially planned to build two 2-nanometer facilities. The first of these was to be built in Hsinchu City, where the fab's headquarters are also located. The location of the second site is Taichung; however, rumors in 2021 indicated that the firm might shift to Kaohsiung instead. These rumors highlighted that the water shortage in Taichung might affect an advanced chip manufacturing facility.

TSMC had denied the rumors of a Kaohsiung 2-nanometer plant back then, but it finally confirmed them earlier this month. Right at the same time, the reports of a delay in the Taichung city review have also started to surface in the news. Local reports suggest that the Kaohsiung city government is more receptive to a 2-nanometer site, and this might lead the city to overtake Taichung when it comes to the 2-nanometer site.

Should the 2-nanometer site materialize in Kaohsiung, this will be an extension to the 28-nanometer plant already being built there. Additional details about the 2-nanometer site surfaced last year, with TSMC's investment expected to sit at NT$1 trillion for the factory. Back then, TSMC was expected to submit the land acquisition documents for the plant, and the fab had preferred this location due to its proximity to a major interchange. Back then, Taichung city counselor Yang Zhengzhong had also urged the government to work with TSMC to build the chip manufacturing facility in the area.