WESM Visayas to start operations December 26
MANILA – The government will start the commercial operations of the wholesale electricity spot market in the Visayas on December 26, integrating the system to the WESM Luzon grid, an official said.
Melinda Ocampo, Philippine Electricity Market Corp. president, told reporters WESM Visayas had a “soft launching” yesterday.
Ocampo said available capacities from power suppliers in the Visayas are in the process of registration with the spot market.
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 currently operational only in Luzon.
“We don’t know yet the additional available capacity for WESM Visayas because it is still in the process of registration. Commercial operations will be on December 26 and this time it will be one market, integrated,” Ocampo said.
Ocampo said there were power suppliers in the Visayas who have no contracts and “WESM we will be able to account for them.”
Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said last week that those who opposed WESM in the Visayas had finally realized the benefits of putting it in place.
“Those who have opposed it have finally understood why we need to do it. I told them, if you allow WESM to operate today, your brownouts will end today,” he said.
Almendras said there would be slight increase in the power rates in Visayas once the WESM starts commercial operations.
“There may be some spikes until the entry of new power plants,” he said but assured that it will only be temporary as the market becomes efficient.
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.
The department engaged the services of Intelligent Energy Systems, a consultancy firm based in Australia, to assess the expansion of WESM in the Visayas.
The IES report said that it was 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 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
