Meralco ready to bid for nuclear projects

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) of tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan is gearing up to enter the nuclear energy arena, with its project bids ready as the government moves to open applications next year.

- By BRIX LELIS

"We've been very aggressive; we have to comply with the timeline set forth by the Department of Energy," Meralco executive vice president and COO Ronnie Aperocho said when asked about the company’s readiness to submit nuclear bids.

He said the country’s largest power utility was “ideally” looking at a small modular reactor (SMR), attracted by its manageable size.

The challenge, however, is that SMR is still a relatively new technology, and Philippine law requires the country of origin to demonstrate at least two years of safe, incident-free operation before it can be adopted here.