BIZ BUZZ: ACEN not diving into nuclear (yet)

While its peers scout partnerships abroad, Ayala Group’s ACEN Corp. seems unlikely to jump into the looming nuclear energy race.

Eric Francia, president and chief executive officer of ACEN—a firm committed to pursuing clean energy sources – said the nuclear dream faces several challenges, including legal hoops and public buy-in.

“I think, yes, it’s clean, but one needs to address the safety concerns, the social acceptance, regulatory, all the laws and regulations—it takes time,” the executive told Biz Buzz.

The government completed the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, but this was never fired up due to allegations of corruption and issues with safety.

Capability building for a new technology, he added, is a long process.

Francia also said that while modular reactors—the type of nuclear technology tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan planned to tap—had offered promises before, they have yet to reach the stage where they can be commercialized.

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“The economics are not that solid or stable yet. So, there’s still a lot of questions,” he said.

But the ACEN official lauded the Department of Energy’s (DOE) efforts to achieve President Marcos’ goal of having nuclear energy plants by 2032.

“At least the good thing about the DOE is they’re planting the seeds already this early,” he said.