The Department of Energy is looking at an initial 2,400 megawatts of nuclear capacity to support the growth of the sector by 2035.
The proposal is part of the agency’s Philippine Energy Plan 2023 to 2050 which is expected to be completed this year.
Under the plan, eight units of 150-MW small modular reactors are expected to be put in place by 2032 and an additional 1,200 MW of nuclear capacity by 2035.
DOE director for energy policy and planning bureau Michael Sinocruz said they could not say yet the exact nuclear capacity that would be included in the plan.
“We are running our numbers in terms of reliability and cost. Right now, we don’t have a fixed number in terms of capacity. We will have a firm capacity to be included in the mix in the succeeding PH energy plan once we have a law establishing an independent atomic energy regulatory commission which is still pending in the Congress now,” Sinocruz said in a recent forum organized by the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Sinocruz said the government remained open to rehabilitating the mothballed 620-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
“We are not yet abandoning the possible rehabilitation of the BNPP, but we need to do a feasibility study whether we can rehab the BNPP at a reasonable cost, whether rehabilitation of BNPP is cost effective to us,” he said.
“We need to commission, so there are several proposals that we received for the conduct of the feasibility study for the BNPP,” he said.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla earlier said the Philippines might have a nuclear facility up and running “within the decade.”
“Within the decade, I am sure that we can be on, or we can place ourselves on track for that,” Lotilla said.
Lotilla said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. talked about revisiting the country’s nuclear power in his State of the Nation Address last year.
“Since then, he has been looking at various options. In his last visit to the UK for example, he had a meeting with the developers of SMRs to determine how they proposed to roll out this new tech,” he said.
Lotilla said the president’s instructions were clear on abiding by the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“There are 19 guidelines or requirements relating to the operation of nuclear power plants, whether conventional or SMR technology. The president’s concern was safety,” he said.
He said the President was also concerned about technology suitability and affordability to consumers.
Lotilla said various government agencies have been working together, including the Department of Science and Technology, on nuclear energy development.
“Congress is working on one important requisite, the legal and regulatory framework. We need a law in place before we can even embark on nuclear development but in the planning process, we are looking at all the alternatives possible,” the energy chief said.
“That is a viable alternative, but right now, all SMRs are still in the demonstration stage for their commercial rollout,” he said.
Lotilla said the DOE was also working with the National Economic Development Authority on the private sector’s participation in nuclear development.
“The government is prohibited from entering the power generation space but if there is a possibility for the private sector to do it, we should support it,” he said.
“We intend to work with them so in the meantime, we are making sure that when that decision is made, when the Congress gave the green light, we won’t be starting from scratch,” he said.