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Nuclear Power may play a vital role in the energy mix – AboitizPower

Paulo Gaborni July 1, 2023 at 02:45 PM

Aboitiz Power Corporation, the parent company for all of the Aboitiz Group’s energy-related investments, is examining nuclear energy, particularly small modular reactors, as an alternative source of power.

AboitizPower views nuclear energy as playing a part in the Philippines’ transition to a cleaner energy mix by investigating the prospect of creating small modular reactors, or SMRs, to complement the country’s clean energy transition.

“I believe that nuclear could be part of the Philippine energy mix. It’s just a matter of time,” AboitizPower thermal power generation group chief operating officer Felino Bernardo said.

“What’s important is that we make sure that we have the capacity to plan and execute it in a safe way. Safety is number one as far as nuclear technology is concerned,” he said.

In response to address power woes, nuclear energy is one of the technologies being explored in the Philippines, and it is still regarded as a long-term alternative for power generation in the country.

And according to AboitizPower, nuclear energy has the potential to provide the country with dependable baseload power that is also clean.

Especially with recent nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors (SMR) that are seen to be easier to construct than large nuclear power plants and can be set up in remote locations providing a more dependable supply of electricity. SMRs have a power range of 50 to 300 megawatts (MW).

However, AboitizPower also said that nuclear technology is expensive, especially SMRs.

“If the promise of SMR will come true, it’s going to be affordable as well,” Bernardo said, adding that it will still take decades before costs and prices get lower.

To date, AboitizPower has a pipeline of more than 1,000 MW of RE projects, including developing wind, solar farms, and geothermal plants, and is expanding its RE portfolio to 4,600 megawatts or MW, resulting in a 50:50 balance between its RE and thermal capacities by 2030.

Photo: AboitizPower FB

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