Philippines on nuclear path as Marcos targets energy reform ahead of election
Philippines president Bongbong Marcos is expected to have a better outcome than Australia’s Peter Dutton when he heads to the polls on Monday.
Like Mr Dutton, Mr Marcos is running a campaign with a major focus on energy change.
The Philippine government has identified the introduction of nuclear power as an opportunity to change the nation’s energy equation.
Looming energy crisis
With its largest petroleum field quickly running out of gas and rising power prices and unreliability a major issue, energy has become a cornerstone of the current government’s campaign in recent months.
So much so that the country’s Department of Energy has ordered the energy sector to ensure uninterrupted power during national and local elections.
The government is actively exploring nuclear power as part of its energy mix, aiming for commercially operational nuclear power plants by 2032.
This initiative stems from the need to ensure energy security and meet growing electricity demand, with projections indicating a tripling of demand by 2040.
Nuclear capacity target
The government’s Nuclear Energy Roadmap includes a target of at least 1,200 megawatts of nuclear capacity initially, with aspirations for 4,800MW by 2050.
As it embarks on the development of the country’s nuclear power program, the Philippines is making progress in developing the necessary nuclear infrastructure, according to a recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) review mission.
A recent follow-up Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) mission was conducted at the request of the Philippine government.
Infrastructure development
The team assessed the progress in addressing the recommendations and suggestions the initial INIR mission made during 2018 to assist the Philippines in its infrastructure development.
It reviewed the status of nuclear infrastructure development using the Phase 1 criteria of the IAEA’s Milestones Approach, which evaluates the readiness of a country to make a knowledgeable commitment to a nuclear power program.
An INIR mission team comprising two international experts and two IAEA staff noted that the Philippines has made significant advances in addressing most of the recommendations and adopted a national position for a nuclear energy program.
With President Marcos heavily favoured to win next week’s vote, it appears that – unlike Australia – the Philippines is headed toward a nuclear future.