TSMC breaks ground on maiden solar energy plant

(ADPnews) - Sep 17, 2010 - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TPE:2330), or TSMC, has broken ground on its flagship solar energy plant on a site in central Taiwan.

The first phase of the project will devour north of USD 200 million (EUR 153.2m) and should be up and running by the end of first-half 2011, Rick Tsai, who is in charge of the company's new solar business, told reporters at the shovel ceremony.

A whole slew of Taiwanese tech companies are eager to gorge on the USD 35 billion global market for energy generated from the sunlight as solar is increasingly becoming a household name.

The likes of US-listed United Microelectronics Corp (NYSE:UMC) and LCD firm AU Optronics (TPE:2409) can be found on the bulging list of Taiwanese firms buying up smaller players or building solar cell plants in concert with a government initiative to spur on green business growth.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.765)

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