Higher power spot market prices loom

MANILA, Philippines — Average electricity spot market prices may climb this month on the back of an expected lower supply margin, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines.

IEMOP, in a virtual briefing yesterday, showed that average wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) prices rose to P7.43 per kilowatt-hour in the first few days of the February billing period.

“As of Feb. 8, we have already observed an increase in the market price. From the average P5.76 per kWh in January, we are already at P7.43 per kWh, which is again affected by the lower supply margin,” IEMOP assistant manager for knowledge management services Karla Rica said.

“For the rest of February, covering also the remaining days of the Malampaya shutdown, we are projecting that  we will have an average market price of P7.55 per kWh, with the lower overall supply margin equivalent to 3,882 megawatts compared to January’s 4,979 MW,” she said.

The Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project is under a two-week maintenance shutdown, which will last until Feb. 18.

In January, IEMOP reported that average WESM prices went down to P5.76  per kWh from P8.42 per kWh in December.

The decrease in market price was attributed to an increase in average supply of 1,347 MW, coupled with a decrease in average demand of 914 MW.

This resulted in a supply margin increase of 4,979 MW compared to the previous month’s 2,717 MW.

Meanwhile, IEMOP said the WESM Mindanao successfully went on commercial operations last Jan. 26, with a total registered capacity of 4,326 MW.

The registered Mindanao trading participants include 43 generation companies, 28 electric cooperatives, four private distribution utilities, 12 directly connected customers and 10 metering services providers.

With a peak demand reaching only about 2,167 MW, a large supply margin of about 2,000 MW was noted in the Mindanao WESM, according to IEMOP.

Similar to its function for the Luzon and Visayas grids, the WESM in Mindanao is seen as a venue for efficient scheduling, dispatch and settlement of energy withdrawal and injections in the Mindanao grid.