Initial average price of electricity in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in the country in June decreased, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP).
IEMOP said in an online briefing yesterday the decrease in Luzon and Visayas was mainly due to lower average power demand amid higher available reserves.
As of June 12, average price per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the WESM for Luzon and Visayas is at P7.10 which is 19.6 percent lower from full month May’s P8.83 per kWh.
IEMOP said average demand in the two major islands for the period went down by 4.2 percent to 11,554 megawatts (MW) from 12,062 MW.
Average supply in Luzon and Visayas for the period grew 1.01 percent to 14,961 MW from 14,811 MW as average power reserves also went up by 12.55 percent to 574 MW from 510 MW.
IEMOP said for the Mindanao grid, average WESM price per kWh is at P3.29, a 47 percent drop from May’s P6.21 per kWh.
Average demand in the island for the period declined by 3.23 percent to 1,826 MW from 1,887 MW while average supply improved by 9.8 percent to 3,234 MW from 2,946 MW as average reserves went up by 36.56 percent to 1,296 MW from 949 MW.
Isidro Cacho, IEMOP corporate strategy and communications head, said in a virtual briefing yesterday the succeeding months may still see a P7 per kWh range for power spot prices with the availability of more capacity amid lower power demand due to cooler temperatures.
“Demand tapered off as weather contributed a lot… There are things that provided alleviation of congestion, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines also has completed new lines which freed up additional capacity and supply from the Bataan area. We had ample supply and the Ilijan natural gas-fired power plant also re-started its operations,” Cacho said.
“Because of the rains, our hydro plants start to be filled up and increase their generations so we will see additional supply or increased contribution from hydro projects. Potentially, the trajectory of prices in the spot market is downwards, barring any unforeseen or forced outages,” Cacho added.
