As the incoming administration mulls on using nuclear energy, as well as reviving the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), an energy expert who once served the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. believes that it is not what the national grid needs.
“It’s not flexible. It is the most rigid type of power plant. That’s not what our grid needs. What our grid needs is [a] more distributed, because we’re an archipelago, with flexible generation,” Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities energy transition adviser Alberto Dalusung III said in an interview with the ABS-CBN News Channel.
Dalusung was referring to renewable energy sources like solar and wind energy.
“A lot of other options are available in the Philippines today, particularly the fall in the prices of solar and wind,” Dalusung said, also citing the World Bank Group’s recent study saying the Philippines has 178 gigawatts worth of potential offshore wind resources.
“What we need in [the Philippines] is an additional quick infusion of new capacity. You do that by other sources that we’ve been able to do before,” Dalusung said.
Presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Kim Inchul to discuss the possible revival of the BNPP. Marcos said that an expert has visited the plant to check if it could be revived.
Dalusung said that he is open to studying the BNPP to settle “the issue once and for all.”
“I suppose that they would not just look at the power plant itself but they would also look at the other objections to the power plant, including the geologic conditions around the power plant that have been the cause of safety concerns,” Dalusung said.
Under the Nuclear Energy Plan signed by outgoing Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, nuclear energy will now be included in the country’s energy mix through the Philippine Energy Plan.
