Philippines Acting Fast on Nuclear Energy Development

Online, November 3, 2010 (Newswire.com) - PHILIPPINES ACTING FAST ON NUCLEAR ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
Cheap electricity and low carbon emissions key drivers in talks at the Nuclear Power Forum Philippines 2010

SINGAPORE (November 2, 2010) - The International Atomic Energy Agency, International Energy Agency, World Association of Nuclear Operators, Philippine Inter-Agency Core Group on Nuclear Energy, National Power Corporation, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, National Institute of Geological Sciences and the 15th Congress of the Philippines are among the organisations that will be represented leading discussions at the Nuclear Power Forum Philippines 2010, held at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Manila, Philippines on 10 December 2010 with a site tour to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant on 11 December 2010. The plant in Bataan is ASEAN's only fully built nuclear power plant.

The discussion aims to address an urgent power generation gap that is already impacting the Philippine economy with rotating 3-hour outages in Metro Manila, the country's political and economic centre. For Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, fixing the power supply crunch is at the top of his marching orders from popular President Benigno Aquino III. "The plan is to move as fast as we can, as soon as we can," Almendras recently said in an interview with ABS-CBN News. He continues, "Our plan is to try to do whatever we can to encourage more investments in the energy sector."

Further, power costs need to be managed. At present, electricity in the Philippines is the third most expensive in all of Asia, according to studies by University of the Philippines engineering professor Rowaldo del Mundo, with power in Iloilo City the most expensive in the whole world according to the Freedom from Debt Coalition, costing consumers PHP 12.95 per kilowatt-hour. This means that an average refrigerator alone, consuming about 1100 kWh per year, costs a household about PHP 1,187 per month in electricity bills, not yet counting the family's other electrical appliances. This translates to spending of about 18% of per capita GDP only on powering a single refrigerator.

Accordingly, the Philippine Energy Plan 2007-2014 indicates room for the existing Bataan Nuclear Power Plant as well as four more nuclear plants, the earliest to be commissioned by 2015. Candidate sites are also opening up across the country: in Palawan, Cagayan, Cavite, Negros Oriental, Zamboanga del Norte, Bataan, Negros Occidental, Quezon, Batangas, and Sarangani, the district now represented in congress by boxing legend Manny Pacquiao. Cebu, home to the country's oldest city and a major centre, has also opened its doors for a new nuclear power plant. Nuclear power is expected to provide about 3000MW in generation capacity for the Philippines, with total capacity building planned at 15000MW overall by 2018.

Investor interest is pouring in. "We're overwhelmed by the response, in a really good way," explains Frank Mercado, Director at the Center for Energy Sustainability and Economics, the forum host. "Indeed Southeast Asia is now an important emerging market for the nuclear industry worldwide." Companies from the United Kingdom, France, United States, Canada, Russia, China, Korea and Japan are sending teams to meet with key decision-makers and local partners. Services that increase efficiency, manage or reprocess waste fuel, and ensure on-time within-budget project management, as well as key needs such as fuel, cables, and other equipment, are all in demand as the country joins its ASEAN neighbours in the Asian nuclear power renaissance, with over $50 billion already earmarked across the Southeast Asian grouping for nuclear power development.

The Nuclear Power Forum is the only government-business forum for leaders in Asian nuclear power development, featuring case studies and high-level panel discussions on sustainable development of nuclear technology for peaceful energy use. The meeting, which includes CEOs and directors from major international and local industry players, seeks to address current opportunities and challenges in nuclear power development in the country and in Southeast Asia. A full-day power forum will be followed by a site tour where the attending executives and government officials can go offsite to explore the ASEAN's first nuclear plant and cement partnerships and contracts to move forward effectively, securely and safely.

The Center for Energy Sustainability and Economics is an industry research centre (IRC) that works to bring top executives together in communities of learning and practice to act as a catalyst for generating high-value energy business insight and channel top expertise to where the world needs it most. Center for Energy meetings are powered by Arc Media Global, an integrated international marketing specialist headquartered in Singapore.

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If you'd like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Frank Mercado or the speakers at the forum, please call Rex Ian Sayson at (+65) 6844 2080 or e-mail Rex at [email protected]