President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said the government considers tapping nuclear energy among other sources of power to meet the country’s growing demand and avert a possible power crisis.
In a media interview on board his flight back to the Philippines, the President stressed the immediate need to ramp up the Philippines’ energy supply.
Marcos revealed that even before he took office, he had been looking at nuclear energy as an option to address the persistent power shortage.
“Even before I took office, we were already talking about looking into that. It turns out there are many nuclear technologies, different ones. We learned a lot in our last visit to Washington and then—even though we are in the EU (European Union), there are many differences,” the President said.
In his recent working visit to the US, the Chief Executive said he was looking at a “cutting-edge” micro nuclear fuel technology as part of his administration’s efforts to solve the country’s power crisis.
While in Washington, DC, Marcos met with officials of the Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC), a US-based firm global leader and vertical integrator of nuclear technologies and services.
USNC officials expressed interest in bringing clean and reliable nuclear energy to the Philippines, describing the move as “probably a very important way for us to enter the (Philippine) market.”
“So, we study carefully. When it comes to power, we’re open to everything. Anything we can get to add to our power supply. Of course it’s still there, we always think of the need for more renewables, less fossil fuels,” Marcos pointed out.
“So, what else can we do? Find new sources. That’s what we’re trying to do. The situation with renewables is also improving but we may have found some other technologies which we will not need to wait for the lead time of six, seven years,” he added.
USNC officials said they were considering the Philippines for its first nuclear energy facility in Southeast Asia, and vowed to help address
the series of blackouts that hit several areas of the country.
“We also noted that there’s a great deal of discussion about Mindoro having blackouts and that might be an excellent….a good science
(solution),” said the power company’s officials, referring to the weeks of power outages in Occidental Mindoro..
Marcos said the government was open to every possible new source of electricity, as he recognized an existing power supply problem in the
country, according to the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI).
He said one option is to further develop the country’s renewable energy sources to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
“So we’re looking at all of them because tama naman ‘yung assessment na talagang kulang ang kuryente natin (because the assessment is
correct that our power supply is insufficient). So what else can we do? Find new sources. That’s what we’re trying to do. The situation
with the renewables is also improving but we may have found some other technologies na hindi mag-antay ng lead time ng six, seven years (that
we don’t have to wait for a lead time of six, seven years),” he said.
“When it comes to power, we’re open to everything. Kahit na ano na pwede nating makuha para makapag-addition sa power supply natin.
Syempre nandiyan pa rin – lagi natin iniisip – kailangan marami yung renewables, babawas na yung fossil fuel (Anything we can get to add to
our power supply. Of course, we always think of having more renewables to reduce the use of fossil fuel)..
According to the Presidential Communications Office, the Oregon-based NuScale Power Corp., which is known for developing a safe modular and
scalable small nuclear power system, was expected to invest $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion to provide 462 megawatts
to the country by early 2030s.
