The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Riza Lozada
The government is reviving plans to use nuclear energy to address the country’s rising demand for electricity and has started taking steps to recommission the defunct Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), which has been mothballed for the past 30 years.
If plans don’t miscarry, the 600-megawatt BNPP would be operational by 2025, while three more nuclear plants will be up and running before 2035.
The mothballed BNPP had a total cost of $2.2 billion.
National Power Corp. (Napocor) President Gladys Sta. Rita said during a Senate hearing that “the BNPP can be successfully rehabilitated at $1 billion for a period of four years.”
The official of the state-owned firm said a new nuclear plant would cost $5 to $6 billion to build from scratch and would take 10 years to complete.
Candidate sites for the three new nuclear power plant, based on the revised Philippine Energy Plan, are Port Irene/Matara Point and Rakat Hill in Cagayan Valley; Mapalan Point in Morong, Bataan; San Juan, in Batangas; Palicpican in Ternate, Cavite; Padre Burgos in Quezon; Baluangan, Cawayan, in Negros Oriental; Talusan Point, in Sipalay, Negros Occidental; Tagbarungis, Inagauan (southwest of Puerto Princesa) and Concepcion, Tanabang (northeast of Puerto Princesa), Cansilan Point, Bayawan, in Negros Oriental; Piacan Point in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte; and Cauit Point, also in Siocon; and in General Santos, Sarangani.
The Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands (CCPI), the country’s oldest business group, is supporting the administration’s move, citing the need to cut power costs and to make sure there is enough energy supply to support industrialization and economic growth.
In a statement, CCPI urged the government to “immediately adopt nuclear power as an alternative energy source following the precarious energy problem faced by the Philippines and the alarming high costs of energy to business and industry.”
Congressional approval, however, is needed for the recommissioning of the BNPP. But sources said that would be the easiest part of the problem, with the super majority now supporting the administration in both houses of the legislature.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said the updated PEP aims increase by 60 percent the country’s power supply to reach 25,800 megawatts (MW) by 2030 from the current installed capacity of 16,250 MW.
The plan aims to source a total of 2,400 megawatts (MW) from nuclear energy until 2035. PEP said three more nuclear-power plants will be built in the Philippines and, barring unfavorable circumstances, these are expected to be completed in 2027, 2030 and 2034.
“Out of the expected capacity addition of close to 13,000 MW until 2030, only 1,800 MW have been committed,” the DOE said. “This is still short of the projected demand of 29,330 MW in 2030. In addition, various interconnection links between the island grids need to be developed.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which recently released an updated Country Nuclear Power Profile, said in reporting on the Philippines Nuclear Infrastructure Development: “The contract for the recommissioning of BNPP may be done through a government-to-government” arrangement.”
The government has yet to identify which country it will choose to help it recommission the BNPP.
“For the nuclear power cycle involving the BNPP, the recommendations from which the government would contract its recommissioning project would be the prime consideration,” it said.
“However, for future programs, the Philippine strategy for the back end of the cycle at the moment would be for long term storage of spent fuel onsite, while waiting for the identification of the Philippines National Radwaste Repository Center.
A suitable site within the Philippines was already identified for this center,” it added.
Nuke conference
Coincidentally, the DOE said it will host the IAEA and International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC) Conference on the prospects of nuclear power in the Asia-Pacific region from Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 at the Diamond Hotel.
The forum, which will be cosponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Science and Technology through the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), and the National Power Corp. (Napocor), will discuss issues and challenges related to the introduction of a nuclear-power program.
Topics to be tackled include fostering an international cooperation in nuclear programs, global status and prospects, legal frameworks, atomic waste management, funding and financing, human resource development and capacity building, social communication for public understanding and even environmental considerations.
Eighteen IAEA members will participate in the conference: Bangladesh, Canada, Finland, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
Local participants are representatives from the three branches of the government, members of academe and the scientific community, energy-sector participants, professional organizations and non-governmental organizations.
The CCPI, in endorsing the government’s nuclear-power plan, noted that 31 countries are currently operating nuclear-power plants “due to unstable and very volatile price of fossil fuel.”
“The US has 99 nuclear power plants. Vietnam is now constructing two plants. China has the fastest nuclear-power program. There are more than 65 plants under construction. The rest of the countries using nuclear-power plants are in Europe, North America, East Asia and South Asia,” it said.
CCPI said nuclear power is a cheap source of energy. It said nuclear power is 79 percent cheaper than oil, 78 percent cheaper than gas and 23 percent cheaper than coal.
There have also been fewer accidents involving nuclear plants compared with other types of plants in the past few years, it added.
It was learned that Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi had met with members of the United States Agency for International Development’s (Usaid) Building Low Emission Alternatives to Develop Economic Resilience and Sustainability (B-Leaders) to discuss the formulation of an optimal energy mix.
The DOE joint program with Usaid seeks to study the energy requirements for economic-growth trends, load-consumption profiles for energy consumers, emerging energy technologies and local industry readiness, transmission configurations and network development
The DOE, meanwhile, said it will implement energy policies that reflect the country’s commitment to pursue energy independence under the government’s five-point reform package to include goals on accelerating exploration, development and utilization of indigenous energy resources, intensifying renewable energy resource development, increasing the use of alternative fuels, and enhancing energy efficiency and conservation.
“Continuing reforms in the power sector, as well as the downstream oil and gas industries will pave the way in realizing a globally competitive Philippine energy sector,” it added.
Former Pangasinan Rep. Mark O. Cojuangco filed a House bill in 2009 that sought the immediate recommissioning and commercial operation of the BNPP, appropriating funds for it and for other purposes.
It is expected to be refiled in the current session of Congress.
Cojuangco said during a recent briefing at the Napocor office that the BNPP, once fully operational, will slash electricity prices by half.
“Imagine, BNPP can generate electricity for only between P2 and P2.50 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) as compared to the ongoing average rate of P5 and P5.45 through the national grid, which is being retailed and distributed at about P10 to P12 per kWh,” Cojuangco said.
He also said politics should be set aside since the BNPP’s opening would benefit the economic development of all citizens.
The ex-lawmaker said the reopening of the new facility will enable the Philippines to compete more effectively in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) economic integration.