With just a few days left in 2021, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) remains focused in achieving more milestones for the Philippine Energy industry through the upcoming market developments in its pipeline. This includes the impending integration of Reserves in the WESM, implementation of enhancements to the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) design, conceptualization for the Electricity Forward Alternative Trading System (EFATS), and the much-awaited commencement of the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP) which is set to operate this 03 December.
Likewise, IEMOP adopted to the “new normal” and shifted to digital platforms. This allowed IEMOP to strengthen its relationship with the stakeholders and participants even during the pandemic restrictions. In the recently held Market Participants’ Update (MPU) this 26 November, IEMOP discussed the policies and directives it plans to implement to ensure a brighter chapter for the energy industry.
During the said event, the Market Operator also discussed the highlights for the past months. So far, the registered capacity in the WESM already amounted to 21,344 MW with 437.7 MW coming from the newly established power plants since May 2021[1]. Majority of the supply is still generated from coal power plants but there was a 133.2 MW added capacity coming from renewable energy sources. The increase in the levels of supply as well as the minimal change in demand this November, average rate in WESM decreased to 5.17 PhP/kWh.
Moreover, customer consumption for January to October 2021 has amounted to 67,312 GWh which is higher by 5.40% from that of 2020. The Market Operator also noted that this figure is relatively close to the amount recorded in 2019 which was 67,120 GWh.
As for the market transactions, the Effective Settlement Spot Price (ESSP) increased from 3.41 PhP/kWh in September to 6.43 PhP/kWh in October. The same goes for the total spot percentage which increased from 7.8% to 8.0%. Generation for the October spot transactions was recorded at 6,774 GWh.
IEMOP also presented the new WESM Tax Regime, clarifying the treatment of tax transactions in WESM following the promulgation of the ruling of the Bureau of Internal Review dated 24 August 2021. Updates in the implementation of the five-minute market, highlighting better forecast accuracy, were also presented to the attendees and delegates of the event.
[1] WESM Records as of 16 November 2021
