LINGAYEN—The movement pushing for the reopening and possibly operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) may have found a new champion.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has indicated he favors the reopening of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) when he told newsmen here on Nov. 30 that his office will exhaust all sources of energy including the BNPP that was left lying idle for 40 years.

“We at DOE are exhausting all means and making studies so that the Bataan power plant could be brought back to full use and lower the cost of electricity”, Cusi added.

On the BNPP, he said “We have to find closure. We spent money for that. Shall we finally benefit from that or not?

Cusi said DOE is studying the continued feasibility of operating BNPP whose initial operations in 1986 was established as a 620 megawatt power plant. “At 620 megawatts, it will be a big boost to the current energy supply,” he said.

“There were many issues that came out over time. I am telling you, all those issues were already answered, recalling that even during the previous regimes, these were already raised and were already answered,” the secretary said.

He said time has proven that all the issues raised against it by critics were proven false.

Looking back, if the BNPP was continued, the country’s economic landscape would have been different. “Our standard of living would have been higher,” he stressed.

At the same time, he said the Philippine Energy Plan does not mean that there will be more renewable sources of energy that will be set up in answer to the energy needs of the country.

“We should first make sure that we have enough supply of energy whether it comes from coal, gas and renewable sources, or whatever,” he said.

Meanwhile, Cusi admitted he is not aware of a plan to build a second coal-fired power plant in Pangasinan, particularly in Sual where a 1,218 megawatt Sual Coal-Fired Power Plant is already operating. (Leonardo Micua)

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