Green Operations
Actron is committed to the implementation of environmental protection in the production process. For the production value chain, products from the stages of incoming raw material to production completion are within the scope of our environmental protection. To realize our principles, we integrate the environmental safety and health policy into our operational strategy, and we aim to reach the goal of zero emissions starting from pollution control. Actron has obtained ISO 14001:2015 certification and uses it as the framework for the company's environmental management. In response to the carbon reduction demands arising from climate change, Actron continues its efforts towards energy conservation and carbon reduction. The company has also achieved ISO 50001 certification for its energy management system. We also initiated the implementation of ISO 14064-1:2018 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Standard. This involves the design, development, management, and reporting of greenhouse gas inventories, in line with principles and requirements. These measures are aimed at managing carbon emissions resulting from organizational operations, thereby enhancing environmental performance and operational efficiency.
Goals for Environmental Management
Environmental Resource Use
Actron’s requirements and improvements for product quality start from the raw material of production source. In 2024, with the successive mass production of new products, the overall production yield reached 96.42%, representing a 0.18% improvement compared to 2023.
Energy Management
Taiwan, with limited energy resources, has long emphasized energy conservation policies as a cornerstone of government initiatives. Actron, recognized as a major energy user under the Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs, has achieved ISO 50001:2018 certification for its energy management system. Through the PDCA management cycle, Actron has strengthened its voluntary energy management mechanism and improved energy efficiency, resulting in multiple benefits, including enhanced compliance performance and the implementation of a self-monitoring management mechanism.
Due to the industrial characteristics of the manufacturing industry, the energy use is mainly for production and the public equipment in factories. For the internal energy consumption of Actron, according to our 2024 inspection results, the power consumption was 32,754,200kWh (consumption of 117,915 GJ), and all of the energy used was electrical power. Actron uses the unit's product electricity consumption as an indicator. In 2024, Actron consumed 120.821 kWh/k-pcs of electricity per unit, which is a 2.2% increase compared to the 118.120 kWh/k-pcs consumed in 2023. However, it still represents a 7.92% decrease compared to the baseline year 2020 (131.218 kWh/K-pcs).
- Stage 1- Energy Saving: We actively promote energy saving and power saving actions in the factories in terms of the lighting, air conditioning, production energy and air compressor, in order to reduce the unit product power consumption. We further centralized the machines and time to perform production according to the order demands, thereby integrating the energy saving and production operations of Actron.
- Second Stage- Energy Creation: In response to the “Renewable Energy Development Act”, we voluntarily constructed solar power equipment with a total capacity of 464kW at Nankan Plant and Nankan Plant II. In 2024, the power generation of Nankan Plant and Nankan Plant II reached 504,817kWh, reducing the reliance on Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) for electricity supply. Actron also installed an additional 120 kW solar power system at the Nankan Plant III, gradually increasing the proportion of renewable energy sources. In addition, Actron adopts single crystalline high power modules (with VPC certification) (Note 1), and solar panels are installed using the double inclination method, thereby reducing the installation of maintenance access and increasing the solar panel installation area. In 2024, the average solar power per kW per day was 2.97kWh.
- Stage 3- Energy Storage Control: We utilize smart electric meter to “visualize power consumption” to understand the state of power consumption, in order to perform electricity saving, adjusting the time of use for electricity bill and usage amount feedback, in order to facilitate the management of power usage and effectively achieve electricity saving. The power consumption at peak time is moved to off-peak time, achieving an electricity load of “peak reduction with off-peak addition”. We cooperate with the government’s power consumption reduction measures, and through annual overhaul, we also participate in the “Taiwan Power Company Planned Reduction of Power Consumption (8-day Reduction Per Month Type)”. By cooperating with the reduction of power consumption in August, the actual reduced capacity in 2024 was 6,438kW, assisting Taiwan Power Company to adjust peak power during summer.
- Stage 4- Green Energy: To cope with international carbon reduction trends, Actron is committed to using 50% green energy by 2030. The annual green electricity demand is 28,224,720kW, and the demand for the purchase of offshore wind power generation for 20 years (2030-2049) is 7.5MW.
Greenhouse Gas Inventory
In the realm of environmental, health, safety, and energy policies, Actron has declared that greenhouse gas reduction is the company's responsibility and strategy for sustainable operation. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the environmental system, Actron has been promoting the ISO 14064-1:2018 standard for greenhouse gas inventory. The company voluntarily disclosed the results from 2015 to 2020, covering categories one and two. In 2021, Actron established the ISO 14064-1:2018 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Standard, with the inventory year being 2021, and expanded the inventory to include categories three to six. Consequently, 2021 became the new baseline year for greenhouse gas inventory. The inventory follows the guidelines of the Ministry of Environment for greenhouse gas emission reporting and management, using the operational control method and emission coefficients for calculation. Through annual assessments of carbon reduction efforts and long-term tracking of energy consumption, Actron monitors five types of greenhouse gases: CO2, N2O, CH4, HFCS, and PFCs, while SF6 and NF3 are not utilized.
The greenhouse gas inventory is conducted using the Ministry of Environment 's Greenhouse Gas Emission Coefficient Management Table and the Global Warming Potential (GWP) defaults from the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (2021). Actron's total emissions equivalent for the year 2024 amounted to 81,282 metric tons of CO2e (Categories 1-6). Within this, the greenhouse gas emission intensity per unit product was 0.332 metric tons CO2e/k-pcs, marking a 3.9% reduction. In 2018, as part of the product transformation, traditional diodes utilized CF4 and N2O in dry etching machines. With the shift to mass production of High-Efficiency Diodes (LLD) and Ultra-High-Efficiency Diodes (ULLD), the use of CF4 and N2O for etching has been eliminated, resulting in a gradual reduction in the usage of CF4 and N2O and a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent.
In 2024, the total equivalent emissions of Category 1 was 60,256 metric tons CO2e (accounting for 74.13%), and the total equivalent emissions of Category 2 was 15,772 metric tons CO2e (accounting for 19.40%). In terms of the classification according to the type of greenhouse gas, PFCs were the largest amount (accounting for 72.87%), and the second largest amount was CO2 (accounting for 25.90%).
Note: The main source of PFCs is the CF4 gas used for the dry etching process, and the CF4 gas usage amount is associated with a product setting usage amount of 0.0508kg/pc. (The GWP value references the IPCC sixth assessment report)
To effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we have established the greenhouse gas reduction strategy and have set up short-term, medium-term and long-term goals, in order to reduce the environmental impact with a quantified goal. In addition, through product transformation, we are gradually stopping the use of CF4, N2O (greenhouse gases), and isopropyl alcohol (organic solvent) machines, and we are also gradually increasing the power generator efficiency to 80-84%. It is expected to achieve a 50% reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions equivalent by 2030 compared to 2021.