Marcos serious about nuclear energy to meet surging AI, data center power demands

SINGAPORE — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his administration is “serious” about establishing nuclear energy in the Philippines as a new source of power, arguing that the rise of data centers will soon drive up demand for electricity.

“We’re serious about nuclear power because even as we stand now, we’re okay in terms of power generation for the Philippines,” Marcos said during a press briefing on the final day of his working visit to Singapore on Sunday, October 11.

“But everybody knows that what’s coming down the road is our data centers, is AI. And I think everybody by now knows that the demand for power is going to increase at a very, very high rate,” he said.

The Chief Executive stressed that the Philippines must prepare to produce sufficient power to support initiatives in artificial intelligence.

“And if we are to be part and we want to be part of the value chain for AI, for the digital economy, we have to produce enough power to support it,” the President said.

Marcos also underscored the need for the country to veer away from fossil fuels — albeit difficult — and tap more renewable energy sources.

In fact, the Chief Executive said he met with a group, which he did not identify, that is “exploring” hydrogen energy.

“They’re very optimistic na marami raw deposit dito sa Pilipinas,” he noted.

He maintained that the country needs to “secure as much of our power supply as we possibly can,” which was underscored as the Middle East crisis virtually choked global fuel sources.

He also reiterated that the non-commissioning of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, a project of his father, the late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was a “bad choice” at the time.

Marcos earlier visited the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute on Saturday during his working visit.