DoE eyes one power spot mart

 On May 24, 2021 02:30 AM By Chito Lozada

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/05/24/doe-eyes-one-power-spot-mart/

 

The Department of Energy (DoE) plans to ramp up the transparency of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) as it prepares for the opening of the electricity spot market in Mindanao next month.

The DoE aims to cover the entire country under WESM in an effort to further lower electricity rates.

DoE said it has set 26 June as the target date for the Enhanced Wholesale Electrictiy Spot Market Design and Operation (EWDO) that would unify the market including the trading floor that will open in Mindanao.

At the moment, the spot market covers Luzon and the Visayas.

Draft rules for the operations of EWDO stated that interconnection of Visayas and Mindanao, which state firm National Transmission Corp. (Transco) is implementing, will be crucial for the operations of the EWDO.

“Prior to the interconnection, prices and schedules in the Mindanao grid shall be separated from the Luzon and Visayas grid. Hence, the Luzon and Visayas grids shall be considered as one settlement region while the Mindanao grid” will be another.

Once Visayas and Mindanao is interconnected, “prices and schedules will be determined by the Market Dispatch Optimization Model simultaneously for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Hence, the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao grids shall be considered as one settlement region,” it added.

Mindanao ready

Spot market operator Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines Inc. (IEMOP) said the launch of WESM in Mindanao is certain as majority of the participants are ready.
IEMOP said operating a power spot market in Mindanao will be challenging.

According to IEMOP data, most of the fully-registered participants are grid connected generators, embedded generators, and directly connected customers.
The WESM in the Mindanao Grid was launched in June 2017, with the IEMOP initially expecting the commercial operation in December 2020.