Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Cusi eyes revival of electricity market in Mindanao



Published November 27, 2016, 10:00 PM By Antonio L. Colina IV

Davao City – Energy secretary Alonfoso Cusi is looking at the revival of an electricity market in Mindanao to properly manage and harness the huge excess in energy supply in the with entry of new baseload plants in the island grid.
The Power Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC), operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Luzon, handled the Interim Mindanao Electricity Market (IMEM) but its operations were suspended in February 2014 due to “system collapse in Mindanao,” and the need to “resolve operational and commercial issues and concerns.”
In a message delivered for Cusi by Energy Undersecretary Benito Ranque during the AMRECO Summit in Cagayan de Oro City last Friday, he said the electricity market will ensure not only stable power but also foster a more competitive market that will bring in more investments to Mindanao.
“All these run parallel with President Rodrigo Duterte’s twin priorities of fully addressing the power situation, at the same time, pumping more economic activity and creating more jobs and livelihood in his most beloved homeland of Mindanao,” he said.
He said the Department of Energy (DOE) envisions this mechanism to provide a venue for all distribution utilities and electric cooperatives to buy power, even if they are not covered by existing power supply contracts.
He said that the commissioning of about 973megawatts (MW) from the combined power of base-load coal plants will cause a massive shift in the power situation of Mindanao from power supply deficiency to that of excess generation.
He said the Mindanao power consumers should brace for this major change in the power supply side.

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