FOCUS ON ASIA | PHILIPPINE SMRS
Philippine nuclear future
As international SMR developers vie for a lucrative slice of the Philippine
energy sector, with the national target to operate its first nuclear plants by 2032, how is the competition shaping up?
By Judith Perera.
Plans for the NPP at Napot Point in Morong, Bataan, first emerged during the 1973 global oil crisis. Source: Julius Trajano/S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
SEVERAL MAJOR INTERNATIONAL small modular reactor (SMR) developers and state corporations are currently lobbying and pursuing projects to capture a share of the emerging nuclear energy market in the Philippines. However, the competition has solidified into a head-to-head race between consolidated state-funded South Korean commercial execution and US Government-backed financing for individual companies. Driven by the country’s target to operate its first nuclear plants by 2032, SMR companies are also partnering with local conglomerates and government agencies. This follows a major restructuring of Philippines nuclear policy in the wake of the unfortunate legacy of its mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant (BNPP). Current nuclear policy is governed by a state-backed push
to integrate commercial nuclear power into the national grid under a central goal to achieve 1,200MWe of operational nuclear capacity by 2032. This expands to 2,400MWe by 2035 and 4,800MWe by 2050. The legal foundation for the policy is Republic Act 12305, signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in September 2025. Known as the Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act, this created PhilATOM, an independent, quasi-judicial regulatory authority with exclusive jurisdiction over all radiation safety and infrastructure protocols. Immediately following this, in October 2025, the US Department of Energy (DoE) issued a framework decree granting ‘Pioneer Status’ to the nation’s first nuclear developer. To attract private investment, this policy bypasses the
Competitive Selection Process, enabling the first builder to avoid standard public energy auction rules. This allows direct power contracts with distribution entities such as
18 | October 2026 |
www.neimagazine.com
the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the largest private electric power distribution utility in the Philippines. The grid operator must buy the pioneer’s baseload electrons ahead of other power providers. The DoE, the Department of Finance and the Maharlika Investment Corporation finalised specific state-backed financing structures and localised participation models. The Energy Regulatory Commission will ensure that any power supply contracts signed by the Pioneer NPP have a minimum fixed term of 25 years, which is automatically extendable for another 25 years to provide a total of 50 years of guaranteed market revenue. The plant is automatically designated as an Energy Project of National Significance. This legally obliges every local and national government bureau to bypass standard red tape and fast-track all environmental, architectural and operational permits. The policy explicitly states that these structural perks apply “regardless of the nuclear technology deployed”. This open-door policy is exactly why international competitors are actively competing for the pioneer slot. In February 2026, the government completed its harmonised, whole-of-government licensing and permitting road map to erase bureaucratic delays. The framework locks in a rigid, seven-phase regulatory pipeline from initial business zoning to final grid synchronisation and core fuel loading. Energy Secretary Sharon Garin subsequently announced that the Philippine Government will begin officially accepting NPP licence applications, signalling a transition from exploratory policy-making into active procurement and technology vetting. To counter public anxiety and manage risk, the administration enforces a strict vendor limitation: any SMR or large-scale design pitched by international entities must
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