The Department of Energy (DOE) has released a draft circular that aims to integrate nuclear energy into the country’s power generation mix.
Based on the draft provided by the agency over the weekend, the policy seeks to allow the commercial development and operation of a nuclear power plant, including small modular reactors (SMR), micro-modular reactors (MMR) and floating nuclear power plants.
MMR units are those with capacities of up to 10 megawatts (MW) while SMR units are those with power output of up to 300 MW.
Earlier this month, Congress ratified the Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act that created the Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority, serving as a regulatory body to ensure safety, security, and safeguards on the peaceful use of nuclear energy throughout the country.
By coming up with the draft policy, the DOE said it wanted to attract investor interest in nuclear development and the business opportunities arising from it.
“There is a need to establish a well-defined framework to instill potential investor interest for the first nuclear power generation facility in the Philippines, while at the same time ensuring a seamless and efficient integration of nuclear energy in the power generation mix,” the DOE stated in its draft circular.
However, no definite timeframe was given for its approval.
The DOE document added that as part of the integration of nuclear power into the country’s energy mix, the construction, enhancement and advanced planning of the current transmission lines and facilities will be needed.
The agency also emphasized that power distribution utilities are now mandated to ensure a ready market for available capacities from the first commercially developed nuclear power plant, which will be exempt from the conduct of competitive selection process (CSP).
Under CSP, a distribution utility may sign a power supply agreement with a generation company only after calling for and receiving at least two qualified bids from generation companies. Moreover, it will be allowed to have direct negotiations with other power suppliers only after at least two failed bidding procedures.
The DOE document said the first commercially developed and operated nuclear power plant in the Philippines shall be considered a pioneer project and must be provided with a conducive and competitive environment to stir further development in the energy landscape.
The pioneer nuclear power plant will also be considered a baseload plant that runs 24/7 and granted priority dispatch in the market, regardless of the nuclear technology to be considered for development.
Among local power companies that earlier expressed interest in developing nuclear power projects are Meralco Power Gen Corp. and Aboitiz Power Corp.
