By Sheldeen Joy Talavera, Reporter
POWER DISTRIBUTOR Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Tuesday said there may be a delay in its timeline to deploy micro-modular nuclear power plants by 2028 due to some challenges.
“We thought we could be operational by 2028, within the (current) administration, but looking at it, it might be a bit challenging for the commercial deployment of SMRs (small modular reactors) or MMRs (micro-modular reactors) at that time,” Meralco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan told BusinessWorld on Tuesday.
Despite these hurdles, the company still hopes to achieve its goal of having an operational prototype or demonstration plant by 2028, he added.
In May, Meralco said that it was about to complete its feasibility study with US-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp.
“We have finished the pre-feasibility with Ultra Safe. We’ve commissioned them maybe about two or three months ago to do the full-blown feasibility. So, we probably should wait another month or so before they complete it,” Mr. Pangilinan said.
In November last year, Meralco and Ultra Safe signed a deal to study the potential deployment of one or more micro-modular reactor energy systems in the country.
An MMR unit or “nuclear battery” can “safely and reliably” provide up to 45 megawatts (MW) of high-quality heat, delivered into a centralized heat storage unit, according to Meralco.
“One or more MMR nuclear batteries combine their heat in the heat storage unit, from where electric power or superheated steam can be extracted through conventional means to meet a wide range of power requirements, from tens to hundreds of MW,” the power distributor said.
The nuclear initiative is part of Meralco’s commitment to adopting next-generation clean technologies. It is also in line with the goal of the Department of Energy of incorporating at least 1,200 MW of nuclear energy in the energy mix by 2032.
Earlier this month, Meralco introduced the pilot batch of scholars under its Filipino Scholars and Interns on Nuclear Engineering (FISSION) program that was launched last year.
Upon completion of the academic program, the FISSION scholars will be sent to nuclear technology companies for their internship.
Once they return to the Philippines in 2028, they will be reintegrated into Meralco and assigned to take on a role in its nuclear power generation unit.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
