Power utility giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is in talks with at least two American nuclear power companies for a "collaborative approach" on this technology as part of the long-term energy solution for the Philippines.

Meralco Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan noted that these discussions coincided during the visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the US around May this year, wherein several American companies have sounded off interest to invest in the Philippines.

“During the visit of the President to the United States, some of our people met with the nuclear manufacturing plants,” he narrated.

Following that initial meeting in May, Pangilinan conveyed that one of the companies visited Meralco about three months ago and this encouraged the utility company to send its own team to have a closer look at the facility of the US firm soon.

“It was a very productive visit and one of the things we wanted to do with them is: first send a team to Seattle and the University of Illinois, they have a working plant in the campus and see how it operates,” he stressed.

Pangilinan added “that’s progress; but we still have to schedule a trip to the US and coordinate with them to get that going.”

The Meralco chief executive has not directly named the company because of their non-disclosure agreement (NDA), but it was hinted that the US nuclear firm is Seattle-headquartered Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, which is a leading vertical integrator of nuclear technologies and services. No details were given on the other nuclear firm that Meralco had been in discussion with.

Pangilinan stated that their interest for collaboration at this point is to see how the company builds and operates a nuclear facility, especially if there is a pilot or demonstration project that they can concretize for the Philippines.

He cautioned though that nuclear power development is a long-term solution with at least five years to achieve commercial operation.

According to global experts, the targeted commercial rollout of the small modular reactors (SMRs) being experimented on by various energy markets could be between 2028-2030; with most of the licensing still expected to happen starting 2028.

Meralco is among the Philippine energy firms which expressed interest to place its bet on nuclear power installations but its assumption is anchored on the timeframe when the country is already well-equipped not just on policy and regulatory facets of investments, but also on social acceptance, safety as well as on the skill of the Filipinos to operate such kind of complex technologies.

The other major consideration would be on the cost of technology deployment, especially the hefty upfront capital outlay because that will have major impact on the pass-on rate to consumers.

Nuclear is deemed as a cheaper option, but that is applicable if the cost calculation is reckoned on the whole life cycle of the asset which could range from 40 to 80 years.

Based on the plan by the Department of Energy (DOE), the likely addition of nuclear power capacity in the power mix would be by year 2032 or at least four years from the anticipated commercial deployment of the emerging modular reactors.