20% limit to private role in BNPP rehab urged

MANILA, Philippines – If the National Government will use Public Private Partnership program for the rehabilitation of Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), the private entity’s participation should not go over 20 percent, according to a former legislator.

In a Nuclear Energy Forum last week, former Rep. Mark Cojuangco, who is the author of a bill that would govern the nuclear energy development in the country, said the bill will allow minority ownership of BNPP of the private sector.

The nuclear bill is now being pushed by his wife Rep. Kimi Cojuangco

“The bill I proposed last Congress and the new bill my wife proposes in the present Congress allows 20 percent, maximum, private ownership in BNPP,” he said.

He added that “we did that because we felt since BNPP is already 100 percent owned by Filipino people today. It will be politically unacceptable considering the amount we’ve paid ($2.118 billion) that it be given to the private sector.”

“Our thinking was that for the good economics of nuclear energy to benefit the Filipino people, then the plant must remain owned by the Filipino people. That’s the basic thinking behind those provisions in the Bill,” he said.

But he said with the PPP initiative launched by President Aquino, it will be up to the country’s chief executive to decide on this.

“It’s up to the President, and if he deems that the Government cannot do it on its own then they can invite the private sector. But the bill favors 100 percent public ownership of the BNPP,” he said.

There has been a proposal to include the BNPP rehab in the PPP program of the government.

Cojuangco supported the powering up of BNPP as this would benefit the Filipino people.

“Since there will be P2 to P3 per kilowatthour (kWh) savings in the operation of BNPP amounting to between P9 billion and P13.5 billion a year at wholesale prices that this income stream in the future will be used to settle the billion dollars needed to rehabilitate the BNPP and be used to lower the price of electricity or be a contribution of equity into future nuclear power generating capacity,” he said.

The Philippines is planning to start up its first 600-megawatt (MW) nuclear power plant by 2025, based on DOE’s PEP.

The DOE noted that the new nuclear power facility is expected to contribute 0.885 million ton oil equivalent (MTOE) to the projected energy mix and reach up to 3.54 MTOE by 2035.

It is also projected that additional nuclear capacities of 600 MW would be in place by 2027, 2030 and 2034.

With this, the total capacity from nuclear under PEP 1998-2035 was projected to reach 2,400 MW by the end of the planning period.

It would be noted that putting up a new nuclear facility may take a decade but the proposed rehabilitation of BNPP could be done in five years time. –Donnabelle L. Gatdula (The Philippine Star)