THE average electricity spot market price dropped in early December, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) said, adding that the downtrend is expected to continue next month.
“Our average price for December is P3.90. Last month, it was P4.12 per kilowatt hour. In October, it was around P6.60, so the trend is downward,” IEMOP head of trading operations Isidro E. Cacho, Jr. said in a briefing on Thursday.
The December price will be more or less the price until January, he added.
As of Dec. 10, the average supply system-wide fell 0.73% to 18,712 MW while demand increased 0.65% to 13,032 MW.
The IEMOP said average price at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) on Luzon fell to P3.89 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the first two weeks of October, from P4 per kWh in November.
Supply was 12,912 MW, down 2.03%, while demand climbed by 0.74% to 9,286 MW.
In the Visayas, the average electricity spot market price dropped to P4.62 per kWh during the period, from P5.14 per kWh in November.
IEMOP reported that supply was at 2,413 MW, up 3.61%. Demand was 1,865 MW, up 0.76%.
The WESM price in Mindanao declined to P3.17 per kWh, from P3.67 per kWh a month prior.
Supply increased 1.32 % to 3,386 MW while demand rose 0.16% to 1,881 MW.
The spot market serves as the venue where energy companies can buy power when their long-term contracted power supply is insufficient for their customers’ needs.
Currently, the IEMOP is gearing up to launch commercial operations of the reserve market on Dec. 26.
The reserve market will facilitate the trading of ancillary services — the power reserves that the grid operator must maintain to ensure the reliability of the transmission system. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera