INVESTMENTS from foreign players who are willing to do business in the Philippines could push the country to embrace nuclear energy.
During last week’s forum titled “Energy’s Sustainable Future in Renewables and Nuclear,” industry stakeholders took note of the numerous energy investment opportunities in the Philippines.
They said “foreign investors, especially the incumbents, have experience in terms of investing in nuclear.”
The Department of Energy (DOE) has held discussions in the past with a South Korean firm on the possibility of putting up a modular nuclear reactor in Cagayan province.
“Korea could be one,” commented Carlo Arcilla, Director of the Philippine Nuclear Institute.
The Philippine Energy Plan already projects the inclusion of nuclear power in the country’s energy mix by 2030. The Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee will conduct a study on the country’s adoption of a national position on a Nuclear Energy Program.
“It would be irresponsible to not even consider nuclear even if it’s just a possibility. If we don’t consider nuclear in the equation and we take coal out there’s just no way that you can escape the fact that electricity prices will increase because we have to import the replacement for Malampaya gas,” said Arcilla.
Nuclear energy prices, he added, could be “about half” of existing electricity rates.
Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi has stressed the potential contribution of nuclear energy in efforts to accelerate the attainment of a secure and sustainable energy future for the Philippines.
“It is high time that the feasibility of safely utilizing nuclear energy to meet our energy requirements be considered,” Cusi said. “We might be on a par with our more developed regional neighbors like South Korea, which took advantage of developing its own national nuclear energy program despite the economic challenges it was facing at that time.
In December last year, the DOE-chaired Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC) submitted to the Office of the President its initial report endorsing the adoption of a National Position for a Nuclear Energy Program.Cusi has said that with the evolution of Small Modular Reactors that are suitable for the off-grid or island areas of the Philippines, the possibility of integrating nuclear power in the country might come as early as 2027.