Semiconductor Fabs

Semiconductor fabrication plants (fabs) are among the most complex industrial facilities ever built. They house the cleanrooms, wafer fab equipment, and supporting subsystems needed to manufacture integrated circuits at scales ranging from legacy nodes (130 nm+) to cutting-edge logic at 3 nm and below. A single leading-edge fab can cost $20+ billion to construct and equip, and will consume massive amounts of power, water, and specialty gases. Fabs represent both a national security asset and a critical bottleneck in the semiconductor supply chain.

Fab Resource Consumption

* 1.2 million m³ of nitrogen, 36,000 m³ of hydrogen, 7,2000 m³ of oxygen, 6,000 m³ of argon, 4,800 m³ of carbon dioxide, and 1,200 m³ of helium daily.

Mega-Fab Power & Water Footprint

While individual fab modules typically consume 200 MW of power and 10 million gallons of water per day, modern giga-campuses with multiple fabs and support facilities now operate at an entirely different scale. These sites rival or exceed small cities in utility demand, making power and water availability a first-order constraint in site selection and national policy. The largest fabs today approach the 1 GW class in power draw and require tens of millions of gallons of ultrapure water (UPW) daily.

Key Takeaways

• Utility Scale: The largest fabs now operate at power and water demands equivalent to mid-sized cities.
• Grid Dependence: Sites require dedicated high-voltage substations and often multi-GW grid interconnects.
• Water Recycling: Advanced fabs recycle up to 80–90% of water to mitigate scarcity risks.
• Energy Autonomy: Growing push for on-site renewables, microgrids, and energy storage to stabilize supply.

Fab Hub Cities

Major Fabs Worldwide

The title for the most semiconductor fabrication facilities in the world belongs to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) with headquarters in Taiwan.

Process Nodes & Technology Lines

Fabs are typically identified not just by location or operator, but by the process nodes they support. Leading-edge fabs today operate at 5 nm and 3 nm, with roadmaps toward 2 nm and below using GAAFET (gate-all-around) transistor structures. Legacy fabs (65 nm, 90 nm, 130 nm) remain vital for automotive, analog, and IoT chips. Advanced logic fabs can run multiple process lines simultaneously, while memory fabs are tuned for DRAM or NAND structures rather than node scaling. Detailed analysis of process nodes and lithography requirements is covered under the Manufacturing > Wafer Fab Equipment section.

Key Considerations

• Capital Intensity: $15–20B for a new leading-edge fab; $3–7B for a mature-node fab.
• Geopolitical Exposure: Taiwan fabs account for ~60% of global foundry revenue.
• Environmental Impact: High power, water, and chemical use raise sustainability challenges.
• Technology Leadership: Process node capability defines global competitiveness and market share.