Meralco planning to build nuclear power plants by 2028

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is planning to build nuclear power plants by 2028 to provide energy to remote areas nationwide.

Meralco chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said their goal is “to be able to start an operational plant perhaps in one of the island provinces to produce power and demonstrate that it’s a safe mode of producing power. We hope to do that certainly well before 2028”.

The company is planning to develop micro modular reactors, which is an advanced form of nuclear reactor as defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency. These reactors have a capacity of up to 300 megawatts (MW) per unit, or about one-third of the capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors.

These are ideally constructed in smaller areas, hence aiding Meralco’s plan to power smaller remote areas.

Meralco Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ronnie Aperocho noted that Pangilinan already gave the green light to conduct a full-scale feasibility study lasting six months. This study will proceed in collaboration with US-based developer Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp (USNC).

Established in 2011, USNC specializes in micro modular reactors and other nuclear power technologies for space exploration.

According to their website, a micro modular reactor is a fourth-generation nuclear energy system that “delivers safe, clean and cost-effective electricity to users anywhere.” Presently, their technology is being licensed in Canada and the United States.

Pangilinan stressed that it would be important to develop ‘a fairly modest proof-of-concept plan’ to build smaller plants. He also noted that his group is “prepared to do so, whatever the size might be–-5 to 10 MW and located in a safe place”.

The parties involved are set to conduct the study with due diligence on the potential sites, coming up with a detailed analysis of the local and regulatory landscapes. The results will be vital to the deployment of nuclear technologies in the country.

“On the formal feasibility study, we will need to deep-dive more on the financial safety and other very important parameters as well as on the site-specific study (that will answer questions) like, where do we install these micro modular reactors?” Pangilinan added.

Aperocho said that Meralco is also coordinating with the Department of Energy and policymakers to look into the viability of micro modular reactors, along with the potential sites possibly hosting these facilities.

“We’re very transparent about the studies that we’re doing and they’re part of the next steps, especially on the site selection,” he added.

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