Average price of electricity in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in March increased, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP).
Based on initial data from IEMOP, the increase in average spot market power rates was mainly due to lower power margins amid higher demand.
As of March 24, average price per kilowatt hour (kWh) in WESM for the entire Philippines is at P5.46 which is 35.5 percent higher from full month February’s P4.03 per kWh.
IEMOP said total average demand in the country for the period went up 6.6 percent to 13,185 megawatts (MW) from 12,372 MW. Average supply increased by 0.73 percent to 18,956 MW from 18,818 MW making power margin for the period down by 18.9 percent to 3,860 MW from 4,757 MW.
“…From February to March, we have seen some increase in prices from P4 to around P5.46.
This is attributable to a thinner margin and there’s some spikes, particularly in the first week of March, which is attributable to the some planned and forced outage in Luzon and Visayas region,” said Chris Warren Manalo, IEMOP assistant manager for market simulation and analysis, in a briefing yesterday.
As of March 24, average price per kWh in the WESM for Luzon is at P5.26 per kWh which is 32.5 percent higher from full month February’s P3.97 per kWh. Average WESM price for Visayas is at P6.26 which is 36.7 percent more from full month February’s P4.58 per kWh.
For the Mindanao grid, average WESM price per kWh is at P4.20, higher by 13.2 percent from full month February’s P3.71 per kWh.
