Meralco, US nuclear firm start initial study on use of micro modular reactors

By Alena Mae S. Flores – September 11, 2023, 7:55 pm
from manilastandard.net

Power retailer Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) initiated a pre-feasibility study with US nuclear firm Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. for micro modular reactors, a top executive said Monday.

Meralco chairman and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan said during the Giga Summit organized by Meralco Power Academy that MMRs could help secure the power supply needs of hyperscalers, data centers and desalination plants in the country.

“We have started the pre-feasibility study. It will take three months. The feasibility study will take another six months,” Pangilinan said as he agreed to share the results of the study with the government.

“We had a meeting earlier with Ultra Safe…for the micro modular reactor option for the Philippines. It is interesting because of its walk away safety design. It is scalable because it’s modular and it has smaller footprint,” he said.

Pangilinan said MMRs have a capacity of 5 to 15 MW that could be ideal for hyperscalers and data centers which need reliable power supply.

“One impact of MMR is adequate and 24/7 supply to hyperscalers and data centers that PDLT and Globe are building for this country,” he said.

He said desalination plants that aim to address the water needs in coastal towns and cities also stand to benefit as they also require stable power supply.

Pangilinan said there is a need to boost the Filipinos’ technical knowledge on nuclear and announced the launch of the Filipino Scholars and Interns on Nuclear Engineering (FISSION) program.

Pangilinan said the company would invest in local talents and support aspiring Filipino nuclear engineers to help accelerate the development of the country’s technical and regulatory talent pipeline through education and training in the highly specialized field of nuclear engineering.

“Meralco will send some of our engineers to a two-year graduate program targeting local talents who are graduates and practicing Mechanical, Electrical, Material Engineering and related areas in universities in the US, in Canada, Korea, Japan, France,” he said.

Pangilinan said Meralco was also planning to build a 2,500-megawatt solar plant with a guaranteed output of 850 MW complemented by a 4,000-MWh battery energy storage system.

“So it is a big solar plant that is able to deliver a substantial amount of our capacity in the next two to three years,” he said.