WESM rates up 25%

 

By Jed Macapagal  - January 29, 2021

https://malaya.com.ph/index.php/news_business/wesm-rates-up-25/?amp

The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) said the average price of electricity in the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) increased by 25 percent this month at P2.61 per kilowatt hour (kWh) from last month’s P2.08 per kWh.

John Paul Grayda, IEMOP manager for pricing validation and analysis, said in an online briefing yesterday the increase was mainly caused by lower supply availability this month.

Average supply for the month decreased by almost 7 percent to 12,387 MW from the previous 13,303 MW as peak demand also dropped by 5 percent to 11,015 MW from 11,596 MW.

Likewise, Grayda said based on current projections, peak demand until June is not expected to reach above the 13,000 MW level which was last recorded in March 2020 or before the lockdown.

He said peak demand for February is expected to hit 11,431 MW while March and April will have 11,847 MW and 12,229 MW, respectively. Meanwhile, projected peak demand for May and June this year is seen to hit 12, 611 MW per month

However, Grayda said the projected peak demand will be dependent on quarantine protocols which would affect power demand.

All figures reflect the Luzon and Visayas grids as the Mindanao grid is yet to connect to the WESM

IEMOP said the recent approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission of the WESM price determination methodology signals the impending transition of WESM to the five-minute market from the previous 60 minutes as well as the implementation of WESM in Mindanao by June this year.

The firm said 18 out of 87 expected participants for the WESM Mindanao are egistered, of which 13 are grid connected power generators, four embedded power generators and one directly connected customer.