The Effective Settlement Spot Price (ESSP) in WESM for November went down by 10.1% from October 2020 with price of 1.86 P/kWh from 2.07 P/kWh of the preceding month. WESM prices continue to drop in the month of December 2020 as ample generation supply and colder weather conditions persist on top of the implementation of community quarantine in several parts of the country.
During its media briefing, the market operator noted that the price drop trend began in October despite the increase in prices last 27-28 October 2020 due to forced and planned outages brought by Typhoon Quinta.
The consecutive typhoons which entered the Philippines in November also had significant impact in the market results including the decline in System Demand and Supply last 01 to 03 November caused by the passage of Typhoon Rolly. This was then succeeded by the declaration of Market Intervention by the System Operator followed by the imposition of Market Suspension by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on 12 to 13 November due to the Typhoon Ulysses. Administered Prices were applied in Luzon for the affected intervals. Aside from this, system demand also dipped on a weekday caused by the nationwide celebration of Bonifacio day last 30 November 2020.
As for the System Peak Demand, compared to the figure last year, the results for November 2020 decreased by 4.7% which is equivalent to 580 MW. Up until 10 December 2020, peak demand for December decreased by 4.5% (539 MW) for the same period last year.
On a regional level, Luzon Peak Demand decreased for both November and December 2020 (as of 10 December) as opposed to the same periods last year, equivalent to 4.9% (509MW) and 4.4% (440MW), respectively. Meanwhile, Visayas Peak Demand was reduced by 5.3% (113 MW) for November 2020 and 6.4% (137MW) for December in comparison to the same periods of 2019.
For market transactions, colder weather conditions and frequent occurrence of typhoon in November resulted to a drop in energy consumption by 9.2% which is equivalent to 636 GWh from November 2019. This resulted to an Effective Settlement Spot Price (ESSP) of 1.86 P/kWh for the said month, which is lower by 10.1% from the month of October.
Lastly, as colder weather conditions persist for November, hydro plants’ contribution in the generation mix continued to increase for the month from 6.2% to 8.9% and Wind plants from 1.3% to 2.1%; On the other hand, the contribution of the coal plants reduced from 57.6% to 54.7%.
Throughout the celebration of Christmas and the upcoming new year, IEMOP will continue to provide reliable market services to ensure a bright holiday for every Filipino household.
