DOE eyeing start of WESM in Visayas next month–exec
MANILA – Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras expects to start the operations of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in the Visayas by next month.
“I don’t have exact date, but I know it’s sometime November. That is the running schedule,” Almendras said.
WESM is a centralized venue for buyers and sellers to trade electricity as a commodity where its prices are based on actual use (demand) and availability (supply). WESM is operational only in Luzon. Its presence in the Visayas is expected to encourage more private sector players to participate.
He said there were still some “technical issues” that need to be resolved before the WESM Visayas could be in full swing.
“I don’t want to call them problems but they’re just issues that need to be addressed,” Almendras said.
Almendras said he had not received additional reaction from Visayas electric cooperatives regarding the start of WESM Visayas next month. The cooperatives were initially resisting the implementation of the WESM in the region as it might increase electricity prices.
“I haven’t received any more reaction from the coops about WESM Visayas but I know some of them have started signing bilaterals already,” he said.
Almendras wants to put in place WESM Visayas within the year because power supply in the region has been improving.
“It might be the best time, as a matter of fact, to implement WESM Visayas. When all these generation capacity comes in, this will be beneficial to the distribution utilities and electric cooperatives,” he said earlier.
Almendras said that he had been urging stakeholders to make the Visayas WESM as reality but “no matter how we push for it, if it’s not ready, it’s not ready.”
The Department of Energy has been hoping to operate the Visayas WESM around two years ago but did not push through after consultants of the department raised concern over the tight power supply in the Visayas grid.
DOE earlier engaged the services of Intelligent Energy Systems (IES), a consultancy firm based in Australia, to assess the expansion of WESM in the Visayas.
The IES report said that it is imperative that the department set into place structures to guarantee the proper conduct of participants and sufficient competition.
The report also cited some regulatory issues and provisions of the WESM rules that need to be reviewed, including pricing and the process for provision of market information to the market participants.
DOE is also currently looking at the feasibility of implementing WESM in Mindanao because officials believe that “creating this market for the regions will surely invite more investors in the country, specifically for these two island groups.”*PNA
