In recent years, we have seen how the price of electricity in Spain has skyrocketed to the point of becoming a serious problem for some families. One of the main reasons for this increase in the price of electricity was the start of the war between Ukraine and Russia, and, although it continues its course, in the last half year, the price of electricity has returned to pre-conflict levels. .
It has returned to normal levels at least in Spain, since in Taiwan it has skyrocketed and not precisely because of the cost of generating it. How does it affect us? Well, the same as always, in the price of the Electronic components.
At the beginning of the year, manufacturers stated that, following the excess demand for NAND memories, the price was going to increase by up to 20% in 2024. To this increase, we have to add a new rate that the government of this country will impose. has gone out of its way to raise the price of electricity which, in certain companies, can mean an increase of up to 30%.
Tax on large consumers
The country’s government has announced that it is studying the possibility of applying a tax to companies that consume more electricity in the country, a rate that, in the case of TSMC, can be up to 30%.
The companies that will be affected by this rate have been called superconsumers. All companies that have consumed more than 5,000 million kWh in the last two years fall within this category and will be applied independently by installation, not by company. As expected, the Taiwan industry is not happy with the news, as it will reduce its profit costs, as long as it does not pass the increase on to final consumers.
Taiwan’s economy minister has stated that some companies have been working for years on initiatives to reduce energy consumption, which has allowed them to reduce their electronic bill, using TSMC as an example. However, she also claims that, despite this new rate, the price of electricity in this country is one of the cheapest in the worldTherefore, it should not affect their competitiveness in the market, as long as they do not pass it on to the end user.
To put the price of electricity in this country into context, we just have to buy the price. In Taiwan the price per kW/h is about 9 euro cents. In Spain, the price of kW/h varies throughout the day between a minimum of 6 euro cents and a maximum of 30 euro cents in the most expensive time slot.
The lithography machines that are used to manufacture chips are not only very expensive, but also have a very high electricity consumption, and any variation, no matter how small, in the price of electricity, will lead to significant price variations.
Since TSMC is a company and not an NGO, it is most likely that the increase in the price of this house will end up being passed on to consumers. It is clear that the continuous increases that are affecting the manufacturing of semiconductors have nothing more than to indicate that, either we buy now or we wait for demand to stabilize and prices to reduce. If you are looking to buy an SSD or memory, it is advisable to do so now and not wait for the next few months.
