By Lenie Lectura - September 6, 2019
THE commercial implementation of the
Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Mindanao is scheduled on January
26, 2020, according to Jose Mari Bigornia, president of the Independent
Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (Iemop), operator of WESM.
WESM in Mindanao was supposed to be
implemented last year. The Department of Energy (DOE) launched WESM in Mindanao
in June 2017 although it never became fully operational.
“It’s mostly the level of acceptance
in Mindanao that prices will increase,” Bigornia said.
Some electric cooperatives and power
generation firms are not in favor of establishing a spot market in Mindanao,
which used to suffer from rotating brownouts due to generation deficiency, he
said. This has changed, however, and many power generation companies heeded the
call to put up new power plants. However, years later, this resulted in an over
supply, thus, prompting the extension of WESM operations to Mindanao.
Energy Secretary
Alfonso Cusi had said that WESM in Mindanao will enable a transparent and fair
mechanism to bring in more competition, more investors and a sustainable
business climate that will eventually redound to empowering consumers from Mindanao
of their power of choice.
Bigornia assured the
public that as operator of the WESM, Iemop will be a liable service provider,
ever ready to meet the needs and exceed expectations of stakeholders.
The WESM is the
country’s trading floor for electricity. It is a centralized venue for buyers
and sellers to trade electricity as a commodity, where prices are based on
actual use (demand) and availability (supply).
WESM started
commercial operations in the Luzon grid in June 2006 and in December of 2010 in
the Visayas grid.
Bigornia said Iemop has
made all the necessary preparations to make WESM in Mindanao successful.
“On our side, we are ready. In fact, [we are now] into operations. We’re
seamless,” he added.
Iemop held a Market
Participants Update (MPU) in April, its first since assuming WESM operations
from Philippine Electricity Market Corp. in September last year.
The MPU is a
stakeholders’ meeting meant to apprise participants on market outcome, system
performance and recent developments, as well as to create discourse on relevant
policy and operational issues and concerns pervading the WESM.
The MPU takes Iemop
once step closer in implementing WESM in Mindanao. “MPU is highlighting the
implementation of WESM in Mindanao to enable more participants to reap the
benefits of a robust and competitive electricity market,” said Iemop.
Iemop said stakeholder
dialogue and effective feedback mechanisms helped promote market development
and enhance customer experience.
The WESM operator
also conducted trial operations as part of the preparations, which include a
software audit of the new market system.
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