May 1, 2019 | 9:52 pm
THE Department of Energy (DoE) said
embedded generation plants, or those that are not directly connected to the
power grid but supply electricity to a distinct area, are now required to
register with the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
“If they are not participating in
WESM activities, then we don’t know when they are in or out, and then suddenly
if they are out then WESM has to provide the power,” said Mario C. Marasigan,
director of the DoE’s Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, said in a
recent interview.
He said there is a need for embedded
power generation plants to register to allow the regulator as well as the grid
operator to know exactly the existing power demand and the corresponding power
supply to meet it.
Embedded power generating units are
indirectly connected to the grid — or the interconnected power assets that
transmit high-voltage electricity through transmission lines, towers and
substations — through the distribution system that supplies power to its host
distribution utility.
He said the DoE had issued a
department circular providing for the framework governing the operations of
embedded generators. That circular had already been published and should be in
effect by now, he added.
“Once it’s effective, then they
should follow. For example, in Mindanao if I’m a 5-megawatt (MW) embedded
generator, I should register now with WESM. If I am below [5-MW], then I need
not,” Mr. Marasigan said.
He said the need to register with
the spot market comes at a time when power plants had been failing and reducing
available supply. If embedded generators similarly fail, the distribution utility
they serve would need to turn to the grid to source power.
Mr. Marasigan said if the embedded
generator is not participating in the spot market, the DoE will not be able to
allocate the required capacity should the generator go into an unplanned outage.
Under the DoE circular, embedded
generators that provide at least 5 MW in the Visayas and Mindanao grids are to
register with the WESM. In Luzon, the corresponding capacity threshold is 10
MW.
Embedded generators that do not meet
the threshold may register in the WESM on a voluntary basis. End-users with
generating units exporting power to the grid or distribution system should
register in the WESM both as customer and generation company. — Victor V.
Saulon
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