By KHT Staff. AI illustration image.
KAOHSIUNG — Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Thursday presented Kaohsiung’s shift toward semiconductors and AI-related industries as proof that the city is successfully moving beyond its traditional heavy-industrial base.
But the centerpiece of that transition, TSMC’s expanding Fab 22 complex in Nanzih (楠梓), was built on land from the former CPC Corp. Kaohsiung Refinery, one of Taiwan’s largest soil and groundwater pollution sites.
The original cleanup timetable had extended to 2033. To provide land for TSMC, the city and CPC accelerated remediation on an initial 29.83-hectare section, allowing the company to begin construction while cleanup continued elsewhere on the former refinery site.
That speed has been controversial. Opposition politicians and environmental groups questioned whether dividing the initial development into a site below 30 hectares allowed it to undergo a local, rather than central-level, environmental review. The city said the process complied with the law and that remediation work was monitored.
Further expansion has also faced environmental scrutiny. TSMC’s P4 and P5 plans passed Kaohsiung’s environmental review last year, after civic groups called for clearer commitments on renewable energy, carbon emissions, air-pollution controls and environmental monitoring.
Chen spoke at the 2026 Kaohsiung City and Industrial Development Forum, organized with Wealth Magazine, and said the city had no choice but to transform in response to global competition.
There is real progress behind that claim. TSMC says its 2-nanometer technology entered volume production in late 2025, with Fab 22 in Kaohsiung among its production sites. The wider Nanzih science-park project is also proceeding through planning and infrastructure stages.
Chen said Kaohsiung’s preparations would allow the industry to expand without competing with household water use. The city is building reclaimed-water plants in Ciaotou (橋頭) and Nanzih, which are intended to supplement existing facilities.
Under the current plan, Kaohsiung’s four reclaimed-water plants would eventually provide up to 220,000 metric tons of recycled water per day. The Ciaotou plant is scheduled to supply 35,000 tons daily, while the Nanzih plant is expected to begin operating later and ultimately reach 70,000 tons per day.
Those are planned capacities, not water already available to factories.
Electricity presents a similar challenge. Taiwan Power Co. expects demand to rise sharply through 2030 as semiconductor plants, AI-related manufacturing and data centers expand. The government is adding generation and grid capacity, but thermal sources still produced more than four-fifths of Taiwan’s electricity in 2025, according to Taipower data.
Kaohsiung’s industrial strategy is therefore about more than attracting factories. The city will have to deliver adequate water, reliable electricity, cleaner energy, transport, housing and credible oversight of a contaminated former petrochemical site.
Sources: TSMC; Kaohsiung City Government; Taiwan Power Co.; Taipei Times
