At least 10 manufacturers on the same power grid in Tainan Science Park experienced a one-hour blackout at 6:30 AM, Saturday caused by a sudden electric voltage drop from a defect in a company's power transformer.

According to Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) officials, the temporary power failure was caused by an unnamed manufacturer's faulty 161 kilovolt (kV) power transformer that caused an electric voltage drop that affected at least 10 semiconductor companies sharing the same power circuit.

Companies affected by the blackout include top semiconductor chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Innolux (????), UMC (??) and others.

Estimations of production losses from the power cut are still being conducted by affected companies,, since their production line equipment shutdown automatically as part of a protective mechanism during power outages.

Most companies recovered production as of Sunday.

TSMC said its semiconductor chip manufacturing production line was slightly affected by the brown-out, but noted the production loss could be compensated, and had limited impact on its shipments.

Taiwanese IC packaging and testing services company ChipMOS Technologies (??) reported it was unaffected by the voltage drop, while Innolux representatives said its Tainan production line resumed operations on Saturday, and are still estimating the impact of the power shortage on their production capacity.

Taipower officials noted this is not the first time that an electronic manufacturer's faulty equipment caused a blackout in the science park, and reminded companies to conduct regular power equipment maintenance checks.

It took the unnamed manufacturer one hour to repair the defect power transformer.

By: DocMemory
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