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Saturday, September 23, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 341
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‘POWER LIKE NO OTHER’
39 years after the completion of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, the notion of nuclear power use for electricity generation gains traction anew in the Philippines
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By Lenie Lectura
HENEVER nuclear energy is mentioned, some of the words associated with it are Fukushima, Chernobyl, and the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). Now, more than a year since the Philippine government declared that nuclear power would be part of the country’s energy mix, the technology is gaining ground as power firms team up with foreign experts to undertake feasibility studies. The Manila Electric Company
and Aboitiz Power Corp. are keen to explore nuclear energy development, starting with micro modular reactors (MMR) or smaller nuclear plants with less than 20 megawatts (MW) of capacity. Meralco chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said MMR would benefit off-grid areas because these are
ideal for energizing island provinces and hyperscale data centers. “There are two interesting benefits that it could bring. One is the impact of MMR to supply adequate and 24/7 power supply to hyperscale data centers that PLDT and Globe are building for this country. “Another side of it is its impact on desalination plants,” Pangilinan said. MMR, he said, would address the water needs in coastal towns. “We have inadequate supply of water…this will solve water issue as well by adopting this nuclear solution.” His group has tapped US-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC) to conduct a feasibility study that will commence middle of next year. USNC specializes in MMR. “The prefeasibility study will take three months, while the [full]
feasibility study will take another six months.... Hopefully by the middle of next year, we’ll have the feasibility [study results] and we will share it with everybody, including the government,” Pangilinan said during the Giga Summit on Sustainable Energy, Energy Efficiency, and the Future Grid 2023 hosted by Meralco Power Academy. To support the country’s changing energy needs, Aboitiz Power president and CEO Emmanuel Rubio said “no technology should be excluded from consideration,” including nuclear. “In this context, we are actively exploring small modular reactors [SMR] for quick rapid deployment and flexibility when they become commercially viable and can be deployed in the country,” said Rubio, adding that once the
technology becomes available, “It’s going to be [an] economically feasible solution that’s not emitting carbon dioxide.” SMRs have a power capacity of up to 300 MW per unit, or about one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors. Aboitiz Power is also tapping Ultra Safe to bring the technology into the country. “We’re still in early discussions. We’re about to sign an NDA [non-disclosure agreement] with Ultra Safe just to continue the discussion,” said Rubio. Moreover, it is also in discussions with Rolls-Royce and US-based NuScale Power Corp. “I think these are two entities that are ahead in terms of SMR development. From what we are told the earliest com-
mercial operations of SMR will be in 2028,” Rubio had said.
‘RE all the way’
BUT nuclear power isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. While Meralco and Aboitiz Power are looking forward to the results of the feasibility studies and discussions, ACEN Corp. would rather focus on renewable energy (RE). The power arm of conglomerate Ayala Corp. is targeting to achieve a 100-percent RE portfolio by 2025. “We’re just monitoring developments on nuclear. Not actually pursuing. We’re focusing on renewables,” said ACEN President Eric Francia in an interview. As part of its transition plan, ACEN aims to deliver reductionContinued on A2
CHINESE AMBASSADOR LEADS RITES MARKING CHINA’S FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY
Chinese Ambassador Plenipotentiary H.E. Huang Xilian led celebrations for the 74th founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China at the BGC ShangriLa Hotel in Taguig City on Thursday, September 21, 2023. The event was attended by members of the diplomatic corps, Cabinet secretaries, senators, and other businessmen. Among those in attendance were officers of the ALC Media Group, led by its Chairman D. Edgard A. Cabangon (6th from right); Benjamin V. Ramos (5th from right), President of CNN Philippines and BusinessMirror; and Atty. McNeil Rante (4th from left), Aliw Broadcasting Corporation EVP and General Manager. BERNARD TESTA
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.9080 n JAPAN 0.3857 n UK 69.9684 n HK 7.2766 n CHINA 7.7886 n SINGAPORE 41.6481 n AUSTRALIA 36.5008 n EU 60.6696 n KOREA 0.0425 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.1730 Source: BSP (September 22, 2023)