Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi on Tuesday vowed to include nuclear energy in the energy mix to ensure energy security in the Philippines.
He said the Inter-Agency Task Force on the matter had met three times to study the energy mix before recommending it to the President before the year ends.
He said President Duterte created the task force through an executive order that he signed in July. The task force will make a study and then give its recommendations on nuclear energy by the end of year.
During Tuesday’s Senate hearing on the proposed budget of the Department of Energy, Cusi said December was the target for the adoption of the use of nuclear energy as a national policy, which would be followed by a feasibility study and a legal and regulatory study.
But Cusi said the inclusion of nuclear energy in the energy mix did not mean using the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
He said they would just lay down the policy framework as investors would be building the nuclear power plant.
Cusi said Russian and Korean experts had studied the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and insisted it could be revived. He also said the expenses to be incurred on this matter had not yet been discussed.
In reviving the BNPP, Cusi said there should be a thorough study, especially because a local government unit had rejected the idea.
Before the presentation of the agency’s proposed P2.15- billion budget for 2021, Cusi said the submission of the proposed appropriations was to ensure that “we stay on track with our goals of attaining energy security and equity, which includes access, affordability and sustainability” in the time of the pandemic.
“We work closely with all our stakeholders in the energy sector to proactively meet the energy requirements of the industry and our consumers, pandemic or not,” Cusi told the hearing presided by Senator Win Gatchalian.
Senator Imee Marcos quizzed Cusi on the agency’s plan for the country to become energy self-sufficient.
Cusi said energy self-sufficiency would mean tapping indigenous sources, including the use of renewable technologies. He also said the country was capitalizing on its geographical strategic advantage to become the regional hub for energy in Asia.
Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri said the proposed budgets of Cusi’s department and the Energy Regulatory Commission for 2021 were very crucial for the country to “rebound and get back on its feet”.
Meanwhile, Senator Bong Revilla supported the approval of the proposed P2.15-billion budget of the department.