DOE okays live dispatch for WESM in Visayas

The Department of Energy (DOE) has allowed the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) to proceed with the Visayas live dispatch operations (LDOs) of the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM).

In a circular, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said they have directed PEMC to implement the final phase of the LDOs in the Visayas grid with non-scripted bids and offers.

Reyes said the conduct of the non-scripted bids and offers will enhance readiness of the trading participants to participate in the WESM by affording the opportunity to perform eletricity trading based on actual market environment.

This process will also enable end-to-end of testing all market systems for scheduling, dispatch, pricing, metering and settlements, including the interfaces between PEMC and the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo)’s System Operations and Metering Services Group (MSG).

The circular applies to WESM participants such as generation companies, TransCo MSG and distribution utilities.

Reyes said they also issued guidelines and conditions for the implementation of the Visayas WESM.

The PEMC will conduct the LDO for a minimum period of one week or seven consecutive days.

 “The actual dates shall be determined by PEMC in consultation with the DOE,” Reyes said.

He said the PEMC shall give prior notice of the actual dates to all participants at least one week to the start date.

Reyes said participation in the LDO is mandatory for all WESM participants and shall comply with the circular and the guidelines, procedures and instructions of the PEMC and the system operator in the implementation of the LDO.

Based on the circular, the generators will be responsible for submission of the energy offers for their respective generation facilities in accordance with the procedures for submission of bids and the WESM timetable.

To ensure security and reliability for the power system, however, the dispatch implementation will be subject to security constraints or re-dispatch instructions by the system operator.

Reyes said market intervention may also be called by PEMC or the system operator if warranted pursuant to the WESM rules.

Energy transactions during the LDO will be settled by the trading participants with their counterparts in accordance with ther power supply contracts.

The rules state that PEMC will not be liable for compensation to or for any damages that any party may incur as a result of the implementation of the LDO and the dispatch schedules.

PEMC shall formulate and implement such measures as may be warranted to minimize disruptions as well as any adverse impact of the Visayas LDO in the operations of the WESM in Luzon.

It would be noted that the DOE deferred temporarily the WESM Visayas launch taking into account the study conducted by the Intelligent Energy Systems (IES), a consultancy firm based in Australia.