Mindanao power spot market goes onstream in first half of 2019

MANILA, Philippines — The wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) in Mindanao is expected to be fully operational by the first half of next year.

The delay is due to the ongoing software audit on the new system to be used for the regional WESM.

“We’re still finishing up on the software certification audit of the new market management system (NMMS). We hope to get the audit report before the year ends,” said Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) president Francis Saturnino Juan.

IEMOP will then present the audit report to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) as part of the requirement for its price determination methodology of the NMMS.

“Once it is approved, and subject to the DOE’s readiness assessment, WESM Mindanao can already start commercial operations,” Juan said.

Trial operations of the region’s spot market started on June 26, 2016 to serve as a transition period for energy stakeholders.

At the start, 29 participants signified their intention to participate in the trial operations.

Established under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001, WESM serves as the country’s electricity trading market.

PEMC currently operates the country’s electricity spot market in Luzon and Visayas.

An interim Mindanao electricity market (IMEM) was set up on Sept. 26, 2013 and started full commercial operations on Nov. 26, 2013 as a trading floor for electricity in the region.

However, this was suspended in February 2014 following a grid-wide power interruption in the region, preventing power companies with excess generating capacity to offer their output to distribution utilities.

Apart from instances of power interruptions during its operations, PEMC also faced the difficulty of getting payments from DUs for the capacity bought in IMEM.