5.3.1 Energy Management Policy
To establish a sound energy management system, VisEra aims to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to attain sustainable management and development. VisEra's main businesses include the manufacturing and process services for color filters for image sensor and tests of IC components. The use of energy in the manufacturing process under routine operation and management must meet the requirements in energy regulations and standards based on international norms. VisEra is committed to maintaining a high level of corporate social responsibility and fulfills its corporate citizenship obligations.
5.3.2 Energy Structure
VisEra's externally purchased electricity accounts for the largest share of energy use in the production process with 86.9% while natural gas accounts for 12.9% and diesel accounts for 0.2%. Therefore, the main target for energy conservation is to reduce the use of electricity and natural gas.
Energy consumption in 2023 reached 102,366 MWh, an increase of approximately 24.0% compared to 2022, which is calculated after the completion and operation of Longtan plant. VisEra has spared no effort to purchase renewable energy in order to ensure that the company's renewable energy percentage will account for 100% in 2050. However, due to the inclusion of the Longtan plant in the calculation in 2023, the renewable energy percentage dropped to 15.6%.
Total energy consumption
Note 1：Externally purchased electricity is sourced from wind power and small water power.
Note 2：1 m3 natural gas = 10.467 kWh. Unit conversion coefficient provided for reference only: Bureau of Energy's Energy Statistics Handbook (2022)
Note 3：1 L diesel = 11.1628 kWh. Unit conversion coefficient provided for reference only: Bureau of Energy's Energy Statistics Handbook (2022)
Note 4：1 kWh= 0.00357 GJ. 2023 total energy consumption was approximately 365,593.4 GJ. (Non-Renewable Energy =315,542.6 GJ. Renewable Energy = 50,050.8GJ).
Note 5：Zhongli Plant is a leased plant of Xintec Inc., which has been merged and disclosed in the ESG sustainability report of Xintec Inc.. The indirect energy usage is 505,584 kWh.
5.3.3 Improve Energy Efficiency
To effectively reduce the environmental impact of the greenhouse effect and reduce energy consumption, VisEra established an energy management organization to set energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction targets and plans. We coordinated and integrated departments to promote energy conservation and carbon reduction strategies and programs, and continuously launch and evaluate energy conservation technologies and implement energy improvement plans for related equipment. Considering the impact of the boom in 2023, the 2023 energy conservation target is divided into two aspects: shutdown energy conservation and efficiency improvement. The total annual electricity conservation target is 1.5%. Adhering to the spirit of continuous improvement, it is better than the annual electricity conservation rate of energy regulations. The shutdown plan will be evaluated and implemented in early 2023, and the shutdown will save 2,350 MWh of electricity throughout the year. In terms of efficiency improvement, we replaced the high-efficiency clean room fan filter unit FFU (Fan Filter Unit) in 2022 and replaced the traditional AC motor FFU in FAB 3F/5F Phase 1 clean room with DC brushless motor FFU,saving a total of 1,528,620 kWh,which can reduce 757 metric tons of CO2 emissions based on the latest 2022 electricity carbon emission coefficient (0.495 kg-CO2e/kWh) announced by the Energy Bureau; In 2022, we replaced the old chiller with the high-efficiency chiller CH-101, which saved 577,072 kWh and reduced CO2 emissions by 266 metric tons. In addition to implementing electricity conservation measures, improving energy efficiency, and installing renewable energy facilities, we also purchased renewable energy and obtained 13,903 renewable energy certificates in 2023, which was equivalent to a reduction of 6,882 metric tons of CO2 emissions. We also encourage employees to turn off appliances that are not used in offices and public areas to reduce energy consumption. These measures are supported by related awareness campaigns and training programs to enhance employees' awareness and habit of energy conservation and carbon reduction.
Electricity conservation results in past years
Note: Only Hsinchu Plant and Longtan Plant data were included. As Zhongli Plant is leased, data from public facilities are not included in energy conservation calculationse/kWh。
Spotlight
Intelligent Control of Chiller
In response to the global trend of machine intelligence implementation, the highest energy-consuming equipment in the factory is chiller and chilled water system. Therefore, we hope to establish a model using a big data database from 2023 to 2024 to learn past operating techniques and parameter adjustments to improve efficiency. Intelligent control of chilled water system parameters to maximize electricity saving performance.In order to pursue energy saving efficiency and smooth control of chiller, a database of hundreds of parameters and tens of thousands of entries in total in the past two years has been established, multiple noises were eliminated and the influence of parameters was classified, and a model that was consistent with the current situation was established for operation.
In 2023, the summer model was successfully established and put into trial operation to verify that it successfully saved at least 4% of electricity.
Currently, we continue to revise the model and establish remote communication for chillers, moving towards the vision of automated intelligent control of chillers, combining the latest artificial intelligence development and the constant trend of energy conservation and carbon reduction.
5.3.4 Renewable Energy
VisEra understands our corporate responsibility to the environment. In addition to continuing to improve energy efficiency, we are actively involved in the use and purchase of renewable energy by paying close attention to the Science Based Targets (SBT) initiative and the RE100 Global Renewable Energy Initiative to limit global warming to 2° C. We also actively participate in the use and purchase of renewable energy.
Consolidated calculation of electricity consumption for the newly added Longtan Plant in 2024, We set the target for attaining 24% renewable energy use in Hsinchu Plant and Longtan Plant, and we used carbon credits to offset the greenhouse gas emissions of the natural gas used in the kitchen to attain the short-term goal of net zero emissions in the office. Our mid-term goal is to expand the stable supply of renewable energy and attain 40% renewable energy use in Hsinchu Plant and Longtan Plant by 2030, and our long-term goal is to attain 100% renewable energy use in the Company by 2050.
The Company will purchase land-based wind power and small hydropower in 2021, and will introduce land-based wind power in November 2021, and will start to transfer small hydropower in June 2022, with a total of 43,059,000 units of electricity to be transferred by 2023, and will obtain 43,059 renewable energy certificates. By 2023, VisEra has signed contracts for the purchase of renewable energy including 3,600KW of wind power systems with an estimated annual generation capacity of 9,000 MWh, and a 6,250KW hydroelectric system with an estimated annual generation capacity of 24,375 MWh. We estimate that we can obtain approximately 33,375 renewable energy certificates each year, which is equivalent to a reduction of 16,520 metric tons of carbon emissions. VisEra also set up solar energy systems totaling 29.8KW in 2014, which fully demonstrated our commitment to green energy and our steadfast support for clean energy.