As the Philippines accelerates its renewable energy installations and re-embraces nuclear in its future energy mix, the US government has declared prospects of wider technical assistance and support for the country’s energy sector.

Through the recently launched US-Philippine Energy Policy Dialogue (EPD), both governments have "established priorities for future cooperation and technical support.”

The Department of Energy (DOE), in particular, is expecting that new milestones will be reached on the scheduled visit of US DOE Deputy Secretary David Turk and Deputy Assistant Secretary Beth Urbanas, as the two countries target to “continue engagement and partnership on shared energy transition priorities.”

There are no fixed areas of broader cooperation laid down by the Philippine DOE yet, but what has been emerging as clear direction of future policy and technology cooperation discussions will be on nuclear power installations – primarily the deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) in the country.

Many American companies already started discussions with Philippine companies – like that of Aboitiz Power Corporation and Manila Electric Company – on possible rollout of SMRs in the country, although there are no specific timeframes being firmed up yet by the parties.

At this stage, the US State Department just indicated that the next steps being discussed are geared toward “deepening cooperation and moving forward to deployment under the highest standards of nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation.”

The US agency similarly planned an intensified cooperation on “accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, modernizing and expanding transmission, and reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels,” but there are no expressed interests cited yet on the part of the US companies.

Specifically, for the modernization of the Philippine power grid, the aim of the government is to offer it on a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement, hence, enticement of financing from foreign firms is expected to escalate in the months ahead.

To date, American firms are lagging behind when it comes to new energy investments in the Philippines if compared to the very aggressive play of other offshore players, primarily the European firms.

And while the Philippines has started re-opening its doors to prospective nuclear power installations, policies, regulatory frameworks, technical capabilities as well as social acceptance are not yet on nuclear technology’s favor, even for the targeted deployment of small modular reactors.

Aside from higher costs tied to SMR deployments, recent studies also showed that small modular reactors produce higher degree of wastes compared to conventional nuclear reactors.