What Joe Biden, other dignitaries saw on Taiwan Semiconductor factory tour in Phoenix

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. offered a rare look inside the fabrication facility under construction in north Phoenix to commemorate the “tool-in,” when the building is ready enough for the first manufacturing equipment to be brought inside.

The first phase of the fabrication facility, or fab, began construction in April 2021 on land TSMC bought near Loop 303 and Interstate 17. The phase will total about 4.5 million square feet of buildings, including the 2.5-million-square-foot fab, TSMC officials said.

Buildings in the first phase will total the size of about 78 football fields.

Arizona economy:TSMC announces 2nd Phoenix factory. Company plans $40B investment

Next phase has already begun construction

The company, which announced Tuesday that it plans to build a second, more advanced, fab on the site, has already begun building the shell of the second phase, next to the first building. Construction on the shell began before the company had confirmed it was going to use the building for a second fab.

The second fab will be similar to the first in size and layout but will include different equipment and materials to produce smaller, more advanced chips. In total, the two phases represent a $40 billion investment, the state's largest ever foreign direct investment.

Those two phases eventually will be connected by a bridge, which will lead to a warehouse that is nearing completion on the site. The warehouse will store materials and finished products, so items will be transported through the fabs and warehouse at the beginning and end of the process.

The construction of both phases is expected to create 21,000 construction jobs.

Specialized equipment required

Developing the buildings has required some of the most specialized equipment available. One of the largest cranes in the world is in use on the site, which took 124 trucks to transport to the site, TSMC officials said. It is one of only two cranes in the world of that size; the other is in Dubai.

President Joe Biden, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Gov. Doug Ducey, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and some journalists toured some of the office space, clean rooms and other areas of the TSMC factory as part of the tool-in ceremony.

During the tour, construction workers and TSMC officials showed Biden the other dignitaries the construction process, including the construction of clean rooms. The facility will be highly technologically advanced, TSMC officials said, and will use artificial intelligence for many of the processes, including temperature control.

Water, energy sustainability key issues

The company is also in the planning stages of an industrial water reclamation facility on the site, which will mean that almost none of the water used in the fab will be discharged into the sewer, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said.

Liu said the fab will be the “greenest in the U.S.” and said the main source of water for the facility will be recycled water. Company officials have previously said that each drop of water used at the facility will be recycled an average of 3.5 times, and water that no longer can be fully treated will be used in other ways, as in cooling towers.

On Tuesday officials said the company plans to install solar canopies across all its parking lots and plans to use only renewable energy to power the fabs. In 2020, the company announced a commitment to 100% renewable energy usage and zero direct carbon emissions from energy use globally by 2050.

TSMC owns more than 1,100 acres of land at the site, which stretches almost two miles by one mile. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said the company was trying to keep the option open for possible expansion when it bought the land in late 2020, but she said the company only confirmed the major expansion on Tuesday.

“It’s a big bet on the relationship with Phoenix,” she said. “TSMC is investing globally, but it is a huge compliment to us that they are growing here.”

During his prepared remarks to the crowd, Biden said TSMC’s choice to locate in Phoenix and the plans for expansion are proof that the American manufacturing industry can again lead the global economy.

“I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future,” he said, adding that it “has never, ever, ever been a good bet to bet against America.”