Ever worry about your electricity bill? Try being a plant manager at Fab 42, the 7 billion dollar investment made by Intel in Chandler, AZ. According to McKinsey, large fabs use around 100 MWh an hour, and Intel’s 1.3 million square foot facility would certainly qualify. Fabs actually operate 24/7, around the clock, to meet the growing demand of semiconductors. So that’s 2400 MWh a day.
But what does 2400 MWh a day actually mean? To help you visualize it, we’re going to break it down in the context of an NFL gameday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX , home of the Dallas Cowboys. The ~1.2 billion dollar investment made by Jerry Jones has a capacity of 80,000 people, thousands of concession stands, TV screens, and more. It’s arguably the NFL’s highest-tech stadium, and has more than twice as many square feet as Fab 42.
Fab 42: Semiconductor plants use EUVs, or extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, to basically laser the circuitry patterns onto silicon wafers. They each weigh around 150 tons, are made up of 100,000 individual parts, take three airplanes to ship…and that’s another whole article. The only company in the world that makes them is the Netherlands-based ASML.
Clean rooms are where the semiconductors are designed and require extremely pristine environmental conditions to operate. Uniform lighting is critical so shadows are minimized. Ultra-bright high efficiency lighting is critical so technicians can inspect these tiny, precise components. There are sealed and recessed fixtures to prevent dust/contaminants, highly precise color rending fluorescent lights so technicians can inspect the etches in the chips, and much more.
Daily FAB 42 Lighting usage: Clean room lighting consumes approx 90 MWh per day.
EUV machines consume approx 1 MWh x 15 machines = 15 MWh per day.
TOTAL: 105 MWh per day
Stadium Lighting: ATT uses metal halide lights, which are those super bright, white lights used during night games used to illuminate the field and to also minimize shadow.
Across the stadium, LED strip lights line the aisles, spotlights and floodlights highlight entry gates and team tunnels, and parking lot lighting uses similar lights as the stadium spotlights.
Daily Stadium Lighting Usage: 10 MWh
Winner: Fab 42
Fab 42
Ion Implanters: These machines embed ions into silicon wafers to change their electrical properties so their conductivity can be controlled. Conductivity needs to be controlled so complicated electronic components can function in a precise way.
20 ion implanters (guesstimate) x 10 MWH per implanter = 200 MWh
Photolithographic Steppers: These are like giant cameras that project patterns onto the wafers, which is repeated multiple times to add layers and layers onto the semiconductor.
50 photolithographic steppers x 12 MWh per photolithographic stepper = 600 MWh
Oxidation Furnaces: Literal furnaces that heat the wafers and expose them to an oxidizing agent, which creates a layer of silicon dioxide.
10 oxidation furnaces x 10 MWh per oxidation furnace = 100 MWh
Daily FAB 42 Machinery Usage: 900 MWh
ATT Stadium
BIG HOSS: NFL gameday stadiums have some of the biggest megascreens in the world. Exhibit A: the “Big Hoss”, the 160 foot wide and 72 foot high screen at the AT&T stadium for the Cowboys. About 5 MWh per gameday.
Smaller screens: There are thousands of TVs, concourse boards, gameday tickers, advertisements around the stadium. The ATT Stadium has around 3,000 TVs and 500 tickers and boards spread throughout the stadium. Around 5 MWh.
HVAC Systems: It take a lot of power to cool 80,000 people. The HVAC systems of a modern day NFL stadium include massive air handlers, chillers, boilers, and miles of ductwork. Estimation: 15 MWh per gameday.
DAILY ATT STADIUM MACHINERY USAGE = 25 MWh
WINNER: Fab 42
Fab 42
Maintaining precise environmental conditions is critical in Fab 42. Temperature, humidity, and air purity must be controlled meticulously to ensure defect-free chip production.
Air Filtration: Fab 42 uses HEPA and Ultra-Low Penetration Air filters to remove 99.99% of airborne particles as small as 0.1 micrometers. Constant air circulation is required, with air changes occurring 500 times per hour. 400 MWh.
Temperature and Humidity Control: Temperature has to be regulated between 68 and 72 degrees at all times. That means advanced sensors and AI automated temperature control to detect the slightest fluctuations in temperature before they even happen. 500 MWh.
FAB 42 Environmental Control Usage = 900 MWh
The environmental control at ATT stadium looks a bit different. Concessions, amenities, restrooms, lounges.
Concessions: 800 vendors. Including cooking equipment and refrigeration, these use about 8 MWh.
Restrooms: 1600 restroom fixtures*.* With lighting, ventilation, and water heating, 5 MWh.
Security systems: around 1,200 surveillance cameras, metal detectors, and communication devices for personnel. 1 MWh.
Speakers: 3,000 high tech speakers strategically placed throughout the venue. 1 MWh.
ATT Environmental usage: 16 MWh
WINNER: FAB 42
ATT Stadium: 51 MWh day
Fab 42: 2400 MWh a day
We estimate Intel’s Fab 42 to use 47 times more energy per day than ATT Stadium. That’s enough to power the entire slate of NFL games across 3 weeks, with no teams on bye. Even though ATT Stadium is considerably larger, the power consumption of the machinery used to make semiconductors is unparalleled. Just remember: next time you’re dreading opening your electricity bill, it could be A LOT worse.
Part of what site selection entails is finding the right utility cost for your facility. As you can see, when you’re using enough power to power an NFL gameday 47 times over on a daily basis, the utility cost can be the deciding factor where to build.
NOTE: We don’t have the exact numbers of machines and their power consumption rates. The quoted rates serve as an educated framework to help the reader understand the immense power consumption of semiconductor facilities. Feel free to reach out if you can provide us more accurate info!