Power retailer Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said it is in talks with the French government to conduct a feasibility study on the installation of conventional nuclear power plants, including site selection, in the Philippines.
“We might be entering into a feasibility study with the French government. But this is for not the smaller ones, but the bigger ones like conventional…Feasibility study especially on site selection,” Meralco executive vice president and chief operating officer Ronnie Aperocho said.
Aperocho said the study would focus on conventional or large nuclear plants with a capacity of 600 megawatts and above and not the small modular reactors (SMR).
“We’ll really depend on the legislation…the creation of regulatory body. So, in parallel, we’re just preparing the groundwork already, all the studies. So, when there’s a law already, we can begin immediately because to build a nuclear power plant, it takes so many years,” he said.
He said the terms of reference for the feasibility study is expected to be finalized in the next two to three months.
Aperocho said they were not dropping plans to develop SMRs, but were scanning all the available technologies which are crucial to nuclear development.
He said they would take their cue from the government whether to go conventional or SMRs, which have a capacity of 300 MW and below. Aperocho said this is an offshoot from recent meetings with EDF France, which is owned by the French government.
Meralco along with Meralco Power Academy (MPA) recently visited Université Paris-Saclay (UPS) and top nuclear institutions in France to discuss possible collaborations on capacity building and knowledge sharing in a bid to advance its nuclear energy strategic transition (NEST) initiative.
Aperocho said France’s technology is very mature, having started building nuclear power plants since 1948, and almost 75 percent of their energy mix is nuclear.
He said they are looking at conventional plants to help meet the Department of Energy’s 1,200-MW nuclear installation target by 2032.
“We’re not building new coal-fired power plants. So, the option is we’re looking at nuclear. We’re just waiting for the legislation, policy and creation of the regulatory body,” he said.
