The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is exploring a proposal to convert the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) into a data center hub, stating the mothballed clean energy facility has the necessary ingredients to attract hyperscaler investors.
DICT Secretary Henry Roel Aguda said in a speech Wednesday at the General Membership Meeting of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) that they are considering the BNPP as a potential site for a hyperscaler complex, as the government aims to position the Philippines as the next data center hub in the region.
In a follow-up interview, Aguda told reporters that a feasibility study funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has been underway for a year to assess whether the facility can still be reactivated as a nuclear power plant. However, he noted that the decision on reactivation rests with the Department of Energy (DOE), as it falls within their area of expertise.
The KOICA-funded study is expected to be completed by November this year. From there, Aguda said, the DICT will begin its own assessment of the site’s potential for conversion into a data center hub.
“There are ingredients of a hyperscaler there, like the infra, the location, there is a freeport, there is a fiber optic connectivity,” he said, noting that the nearest landing station is in Poro Point, La Union.
At the same event, Aguda told PCCI members that the Philippines stands a strong chance of attracting hyperscalers — companies that operate massive data centers with extensive computing power, storage, and networking capabilities to serve millions of users. Key players in the hyperscaler market include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Apple, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle, Tencent, Meta, and Huawei.
“The BNPP can give you easily 600 MW,” Aguda said, adding that the government is targeting a total capacity of one gigawatt within the next three years by expanding connectivity in the country.
Currently, the Philippines’ data center sector has a total capacity of only 180 megawatts. In contrast, Singapore has already reached one gigawatt, prompting many hyperscalers to move into Malaysia, which has 600 MW, as well as Vietnam and Cambodia, Aguda noted.
He also pointed out that power cost is no longer a major concern for investors in the Philippines, with energy rates now on par with Malaysia’s and even cheaper than Singapore’s. As a result, more hyperscalers are considering the Philippines — though the main issue remains the country’s connectivity, which the DICT is actively working to improve.
Last year, the local government of Bataan proposed converting the BNPP into a data center hub. Other stakeholders, including potential locators, have also voiced support for the facility’s utilization.
Mothballed
In response to the global oil crisis, the Philippine government under then-President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. began constructing the country’s first nuclear power facility — the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant — in 1973 to secure a sufficient energy supply.
The 621 MW Westinghouse unit in Bataan was completed in 1984 but was never commissioned.
Allegations of corruption and safety concerns, especially with the plant’s location near Mount Natib, raised doubts about the integrity and financing of the project. In 1986, then President Corazon C. Aquino issued Executive Order No. 55, officially mothballing the plant.
Reports indicated that the BNPP had already fully paid its foreign contractors, including Westinghouse Power Co., at a cost of USD 2.2 billion.
Since 1986, the BNPP has remained idle on a 389-hectare government property at Napot Point in Morong, Bataan.
