The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) observed lower spot prices for August 2021 as the nation experiences intermittent rains and thunderstorms along with the imposition of varying levels of quarantine restrictions. With the July Billing averaging 6.52 PhP/kWh and the onset of August[1] at 5.03 PhP/kWh, the Market Operator noted that the colder weather and implementation of the community quarantine causes the lowering of prices as opposed to summer. There was also an increase in average supply for August in comparison to the previous month by 6.20% or 801 MW.
Likewise, the system peak demand for the month of July amounted to 13,802 MW, lower by 4.87% or 670 MW than that of June. The same goes for the regional peak demand for Luzon of 11,049 MW and Visayas of 2,107 MW which decreased by 552 MW and 44 MW, correspondingly, with the majority of the generation still coming from coal power plants.
The trend also follows suit with the market transactions starting with the Effective Settlement Spot Price (ESSP) which decreased from 7.26 P/kWh for June to 7.20 P/kWh for July. Total spot percentage was also reduced from 10.7% to 9.6% so is the total generation for the July market transactions which was recorded at 6,813 GWh.
During the media briefing, the Market Operator also gave updates on the status of the implementation of the Enhanced WESM Design and Operations (EWDO) which commenced last 26 June 2021. The said enhancement, particularly the New Market Management System (NMMS), greatly improved the market projections in the WESM. Currently, the Enhanced WESM in Luzon and Visayas is under a “Relaxed Dispatch Operations” wherein penalties for non-compliance to dispatch operations are not imposed. The implementation of full compliance to the dispatch operations is still targeted to begin this September.
Furthermore, Mindanao is under the regime of WESM Central Scheduling wherein contracted capacities are being centrally scheduled in the Market Management System. After Central Scheduling, which is initially intended to be completed by 26 August, Mindanao shall also undergo relaxed dispatch operations for three (3) months before the implementation of full compliance to dispatch operations.
[1] Data covers up to 18 August 2021 only.
