Taiwan operations of TSMC, Micron Technology and United Microelectronics Corporation could require 49.8 billion kilowatt-hours of purchased electricity in 2030, equivalent to 15 percent of the island’s projected power demand, according to a new Greenpeace Taiwan analysis.
The projection underscores the resource demands accompanying Taiwan’s expansion of advanced semiconductor manufacturing for artificial intelligence and other high-performance computing applications. Taiwan is adding chip capacity and related infrastructure, including a TSMC-anchored advanced packaging cluster in Kaohsiung.
Greenpeace Taiwan released the report, Visible Chips, Invisible Costs, on Tuesday. It also estimated that the three companies’ combined municipal water withdrawals could reach 191.7 million cubic meters by 2030, or 8 percent of Taiwan’s projected residential water supply.
Scenario combines disclosures and government data
The report analyzed electricity and water use from 2022 through 2025 and modeled 2030 demand. Greenpeace said it combined corporate disclosures, Taiwan Ministry of Environment emissions data, derived energy estimates and field interviews.
The electricity measure covers purchased grid power and excludes self-generated electricity. Where facility-level figures were unavailable for Micron and UMC, the researchers estimated consumption from Scope 2 emissions and official grid emission factors, then cross-checked the results against Taiwan renewable-energy certificate records.
For its 2030 electricity scenario, Greenpeace applied Taipower’s projected 53.8 percent growth in semiconductor-industry power consumption from 2026 to 2030 to the companies’ estimated 2025 external electricity use. Its water scenario applied a 1.5-times multiplier, based on an International Energy Agency projection for water use related to data-center chip manufacturing, to each company’s 2023 tap-water withdrawals.
Greenpeace emphasized that these are shared sector-growth scenarios rather than company-specific forecasts. The water calculation also excludes reclaimed, recycled and exchanged water.
The analysis put combined purchased electricity use at 25.8 billion kilowatt-hours in 2022 and 32.4 billion kilowatt-hours in 2025, representing 11 percent of Taiwan’s total demand that year. It estimated combined tap-water withdrawals rose from 134 million cubic meters in 2022 to 146.6 million cubic meters in 2025.
TSMC accounts for most estimated demand
TSMC accounted for about 80 percent of the three companies’ combined grid electricity use and 72 percent of their tap-water withdrawals, according to Greenpeace. Under the report’s 2030 scenario, the foundry’s purchased electricity demand would reach 39.8 billion kilowatt-hours.
The companies have their own resource-efficiency and renewable-energy programs. TSMC said in its 2025 annual report that it aims to source 60 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent by 2040. The company said it had contracted 7.3 gigawatts of renewable-energy capacity by the end of 2025, with supply to be delivered gradually.
Greenpeace called on semiconductor manufacturers to expand direct renewable-electricity procurement, reclaimed-water use, community consultation and local environmental monitoring. Its release did not include responses from TSMC, Micron or UMC to the report’s projections.
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