Initial average price of electricity in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Luzon and Visayas for July decreased, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP).
IEMOP said in an online briefing yesterday the decrease was mainly due to the absence of major plant outages and lower demand for power.
As of July 16, average price per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the WESM for Luzon and Visayas was at P6.07 which is 9 percent lower than the P6.67 per kWh in the whole month of June.
IEMOP said average demand in the two major islands went down by 1.3 percent to 11,486 megawatts (MW) from 11,641 MW.
Average supply in Luzon and Visayas for the period decreased by 1.9 percent to 14,858 MW from 15,145 MW as average power reserves for the period also dropped 26.5 percent to 437 MW from 595 MW.
Isidro Cacho Jr., IEMOP corporate strategy and communications head, said in a virtual briefing yesterday the drop in initial July WESM prices is expected to be sustained in the remainder of the month, barring any major unplanned power plant outage.
“Our margin is stable so hopefully, that continues, then possibly we can see further lowering in prices. I think all these are good indications. There are improvements in terms of the outages and plant performance so hopefully thee continue,” Cacho said.
IEMOP said for the Mindanao grid, average WESM price per kWh is at P3.83, a 12.8 percent increase from P3.34 per kWh in the entire month of June.
Average demand in the island for the period, slightly went up by 0.22 percent to 1,809 MW from 1,805 MW while average supply declined by 0.34 percent to 3,192 MW from 3,203 MW as average reserves grew by 9.9 percent to 122 MW from 111 MW..
