Taiwan Plans Land and Power Pipeline for Chipmakers

Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council plans to establish a new science park in Tainan, coordinating land acquisition and stable water and power supplies for an upcoming 1-nanometer semiconductor fabrication plant. Development is due to start next year; the site would become Taiwan's 19th science park. The council is arranging the groundwork, but the company expected to operate the facility hasn't confirmed it will do so.

Who Controls the Infrastructure

“Next year, we will launch a major new science park in Tainan to pave the way for 1-nanometer fabrication facilities,” National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) told reporters Monday on the sidelines of the IEEE Asia Solid State Circuits Conference in Taichung. Wu said the council would coordinate infrastructure arrangements, including land acquisition and stable water and power supplies, to help local chipmakers move to next-generation manufacturing technologies.

The council, then, will organize the conditions the proposed industrial project needs. The article doesn't identify which land the council will acquire, who owns it, or how the acquisition would proceed. It names no affected residents or community response. The account describes infrastructure decisions from the perspective of the council and chipmakers, not people who might live or work near the planned site.

The Company in the Picture

The council didn't name the operator of the prospective 1-nanometer fabrication plant. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is widely believed to be the frontrunner because of its technological capabilities, but it hasn't confirmed reports that it will operate the facility. The state is preparing a science park and coordinating land, water and power, while the likely corporate beneficiary remains officially unconfirmed.

TSMC is described as the world's largest contract chipmaker and is advancing its manufacturing road map. Its A14, or 1.4-nanometer, process node is scheduled to enter risk production next year and volume production by 2028. TSMC said A14 would primarily serve next-generation smartphones, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence applications. Those are the stated markets for A14; the article doesn't say that A14 and the prospective 1-nanometer facility are the same project.

An Ecosystem Built Around Industry

Wu said the proposed park would also include biomedical, optoelectronics and precision machinery industries. Taiwan's science-park strategy aims to develop an integrated ecosystem in which those sectors operate alongside advanced semiconductor manufacturing. The plan links the sectors within one industrial site, with the council coordinating infrastructure to support local chipmakers' move to newer manufacturing technologies.

The account gives no figures for the project's cost, land area, water or power requirements, or the number of jobs it might create. It also reports no electoral or legislative proposal, nonprofit role, or grassroots organizing around the plan. What it describes is a top-down arrangement: a government council prepares land and essential infrastructure, while advanced manufacturers and related industries are positioned to operate within the planned park. The people and communities who may be affected by those arrangements don't appear in the account.