Average price of electricity in the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) in Luzon and Visayas increased to P6.32 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in December from P5.17 per kwh last month, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP).
However, IEMOP’s data for this month covered until December 18 and may still be adjusted slightly.
IEMOP said the over 22 percent increase was mainly due to the inability to transfer excess power supply from Visayas grid to the Luzon grid as some transmission lines were affected by Typhoon Odette.
However, Eryl Jansen Gregana, IEMOP market simulation and analysis division assistant manager, said in a virtual briefing yesterday consumers in the Visayas grid will be shielded from the increase as spot prices in the region have been capped by the Energy Regulatory Commission at P4.6 per kWh since December 16.
Apart from the absence of excess supply from Visayas, the outage of several power plants in Luzon this month also contributed to the overall higher WESM spot prices, Gregana added.
Meanwhile, average power supply available in WESM for December only hit 12,869 megawatts (MW), 9 percent lower from November’s 14,246 MW.
IEMOP also said average demand for the period went down by almost 8 percent to 9,559 MW from 10,379 MW.
Gregana explained that overall power demand was dampened with the effects of cooler temperature as well as with the loss of power connections in Visayas.
The figures collated by IEMOP reflect the situation in the Luzon and Visayas grids as Mindanao is not yet fully connected to WESM. – Jed Macapagal
