WESM opens retail access for industries

CEBU, Philippines - The Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) announced the opening of its retail access for industries which consume at least one megawatt, by December of this year.

Eric Niño Louis of WESM institutional relations department, said that by that time big power consumers, such as manufacturing companies, retail establishments, and other industries can directly source their electricity requirement from WESM.

In the long term, he said there is a big possibility that end-users like residential electricity consumers can also avail of the WESM channeled power supply offered by participating suppliers.

This will be realized if the “open access” regime will finally be implemented in the Philippines, he said.

WESM, operated by Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC), started its operation in the Visayas on December of last year, and generated increasing number of registered participants, like the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation, Green Core Geothermal Inc., Cebu Energy Development Corporation (CEDC), Kepco, Cebu Private Power Corporation (CPPC), Salcon Power, and Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC).

Earlier, PEMC head for corporate planning and communications department Robinson D. Descanzo said that a growing number of participants are now registering into the spot market, while wholesale electricity consumers are also starting to appreciate the benefits of sourcing power requirement from the facility.

Although the additional megawatt added through the WESM cannot sustain the long term requirement for the entire Visayas, Descanzo said it is enough to aid the shortage of supply especially in Cebu for the meantime.

“Unlike six months ago, that the Visayas grid was out of capacity, now the Visayas Grid has a reserved of 200 megawatt,” he said.

According to Descanzo wholesale consumers participating at the WESM-Visayas is also increasing, including already the largest power distribution company the Visayas Electric Company (VECO), and electric cooperatives within the region.

WESM allows buyers and suppliers to trade electricity as a commodity that will invite interested power facility investors to open plants, where is it needed, as the electricity spot market will show the real demand and supply of power.

Electricity consumers on the other hand, will not feel the impact of the spot market in the short term, as 97 percent of the 1,065-mega-watt average peak demand in the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid is covered by bilateral contracts.

All entities withdrawing or injecting power to the grid are required to participate in the WESM and EPIRA mandates procurement of at least 10 percent from the market.

Part of WESM’s outlook is also the establishment of the “Renewable Energy Market.” (FREEMAN)