Meralco keen on bigger nuclear reactors

MANILA, Philippines — Power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is looking at deploying bigger nuclear reactors to help boost the country’s targets by 2032.

Meralco is currently undertaking a feasibility study with US-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC) for the potential deployment of one or more micro-modular reactor (MMR) energy systems in the country.

Meralco executive vice president and COO Ronnie Aperocho has cited the need to upgrade to larger nuclear systems to complement the government’s nuclear targets.

“We’re looking beyond just USNC because we know that if the government has this plan to have 1,200 megawatts (MW) of nuclear by 2032, micro-modular is not enough,” he claimed.

Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the country aims to have a nuclear capacity of at least 1,200 MW by 2032 and increase it to 2,400 MW and 4,800 MW by 2035 and 2050, respectively.

“We need to look into SMR (small modular reactors) and maybe conventional nuclear. We need to look into a lot of options,” Aperecho said.

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

Aperocho recently joined Meralco chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan in visiting South Korean companies that were developing SMRs with US nuclear firms.

During the visit, Pangilinan encountered several issues concerning the deployment of the nuclear facilities.

“One is development. They (South Korean firms) said it turned out to be more difficult than anticipated. So the timetable for deployment of SMR or MMR could be moved back as far as 2032 or 2035; that’s their timeframe,” he said.

Notwithstanding this, Pangilinan said they were “very keen” to acquire a proof-of-concept plant with a capacity of one to five MW within the next eight to 10 years.

He added that Meralco would deploy the power plant in “some far-flung place and see if that gives us the experience to build and operate it.”

Next week, Meralco officials will be flying overseas to meet leading players in the nuclear energy industry in the US and Canada.

As part of the trip, Meralco will also formalize an agreement with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for the company’s plan to send two scholars to study nuclear engineering.

The two engineers are among the pilot batch of scholars under Meralco’s Filipino Scholars and Interns on Nuclear Engineering (Fission) program. Three scholars will be heading to Harbin Engineering University in China.

The five Fission scholars will participate in a two-year program at partner institutions abroad. Upon completion, they will be sent to nuclear technology firms for their internship.

The scholars are expected to return to the Philippines in 2028 and take on new roles in Meralco’s nuclear power generation unit.