Meralco eyes new partner for nuclear development

MANILA, Philippines — Power giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is pursuing a new foreign partner to explore the potential deployment of nuclear reactors in the Philippines, according to a top company executive.

“Now we’re looking for partners for SMR (small modular reactors); we’re in talks with many (parties),” Meralco executive vice president and COO Ronnie Aperocho said in a chance interview last Friday.

Both US and non-American companies, he said, have expressed interest in partnering with Meralco, hoping that something would materialize this year.

This came after Meralco’s previous effort to study the possible development of micro-modular reactors (MMRs) lost momentum due to “financial challenges” faced by its US-based partner, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp.

“But at the end of the day, progress can only be made once the law is passed here in the Philippines,” Aperocho said.

The PhilAtom bill, or the Philippine Nuclear Energy Safety Act, which aims to establish a comprehensive legal framework for the safe and peaceful utilization of nuclear energy, is currently being advanced in Congress.

Once enacted into law, the prospective Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority will assume all regulatory tasks currently managed by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute.

Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the government wants to deliver at least 1,200 megawatts of nuclear capacity by 2032 and scale this up to 2,400 MW by 2035 and 4,800 MW by 2050.

To help achieve the country’s targets, Meralco earlier bared plans to enter into a feasibility study with the French government for the possible development of a nuclear plant with a capacity of up to 1,200 MW.

“We see nuclear as the ultimate solution for our requirement for a reliable power supply baseload. As we know, renewables are intermittent. So in terms of reliability, nuclear is what is being recognized globally,” Aperocho said.

A typical nuclear reactor generates an average of one gigawatt of power per facility. This is 100 to 1,000 times bigger than MMRs, which only produce around one to 10 MW.

Aperocho was present last week at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between California-based E?S Organization and Fulbright Philippines to advance nuclear education and workforce development in the country.

The partnership, which allocates up to $400,000 in funding, aims to provide opportunities to Filipino students and professionals to pursue nuclear studies in the US.

“The MOU is very much aligned with our development strategy at Meralco, as we have been sending scholars already… Meralco could provide employment for the students of this training program,” Aperocho said.

Last year, Meralco sent the pilot batch of its scholars to the US and China, with plans to send more to partner institutions in France and Canada.