Perez’s call comes on the back of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s idea to convert the never-used 600 mW Bataan nuclear power plant into a gas-fired facility.
In a statement Perez said, “Nuclear power has been a component of countries that are energy-dependent – South Korea, Japan, China, and someday Vietnam. So it should always be an option [in the Philippines].”
“However, politically, just as in Australia, New Zealand or Singapore, nuclear power is not yet acceptable to public opinion,” he added.
Perez warned something has to be done soon to increase power generation capabilities in the SE Asian nation. He said if the government could not do it, the private sector has to raise its hand.
According to the official, “Electricity demand [will] equal installed generating capacity by 2008 at current economic growth rates, and the private sector should be encouraged to put up new power plants now because the debt-strapped Philippine national government [is] not in a position to do so.”
“We need some new baseload and interim plants in Luzon before we hit that intersection in 2008,” he added.
