According to Bloomberg, ASML's new-generation EUV consumes about 1 megawatt of electricity each. Samsung, TSMC and other chip manufacturing majors consume huge amounts of energy; TSMC is highly dependent on fossil fuels and will consume an estimated 12.5% of Taiwan Province of China's energy in 2025.

ASML, the world's only EUV company, has a new generation of EUV lithography machines costing up to $150 million, containing 100,000 components and up to 2 km of wiring. euv lithography embodies the manufacturing process of more advanced chips is becoming complex and energy intensive. ASML's current rated power consumption per EUV is about 1 megawatt, about 10 times that of previous generations of equipment, but since there is no alternatives to make state-of-the-art semiconductors, the chip industry could become a major stumbling block to reducing global carbon emissions.

TSMC has the most EUV lithography machines in the industry, and the company currently has more than 80 EUVs, with a new generation of equipment still being installed. TSMC alone is expected to account for 12.5% of the overall energy consumption of all of Taiwan Province of China by 2025, up from 6% by 2020.

In addition to TSMC, another major storage chip maker Micron Technology plans to use at least one EUV lithography machine at its plant in Taiwan, China. According to Bloomberg analyst Charles Shum, within three years, a quarter of the chip manufacturing in China's Taiwan foundries will use EUV lithography.

For the chip manufacturing energy consumption problems, environmental groups Greenpeace (Greenpeace) climate energy project director Zheng Chu Xin has said that the lack of electricity is bound to happen, other industries will be implicated by it. Belgium Microelectronics Research Center (Imec) Lars-AkeRagnarsson pointed out that in the use of high energy-consuming equipment chip factory, renewable energy becomes urgent and necessary.

Bloomberg suggested that the impact of chip manufacturing on the environment will depend on the source of electricity consumption. TSMC is said to be highly dependent on fossil fuels. in 2016, the Chinese authorities in Taiwan set a target of achieving 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025, but its latest energy assessment released in July showed that only 6% of its electricity would come from renewable sources by the end of 2021.

South Korean chip manufacturing giant Samsung is facing similar energy consumption problems. Samsung has six semiconductor manufacturing sites in South Korea, accounting for 3 percent of its power consumption in 2021. To compete with TSMC for more customer orders, Samsung is expanding its use of EUVs. The company has not publicly stated the number of machines it owns. in early June, JayLee, head of Samsung Group, traveled to the Netherlands to strike a new deal with ASML.

source：aijiwei