Philippines: Mindanao power spot market starts trial run on June 26

Philippines: Mindanao power spot market starts trial run on June 26

Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) will start trial operations of
the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) in Mindanao on June 26 to serve
as a transition period for energy stakeholders following the Department of
Energy (DOE) declaration of its launch this month.

PEMC, the operator of WESM, has released the trial operation guidelines and
test plan for Mindanao participants comprised of generation companies, power
distributors, bulk-users that are directly connected to the transmission
grid, and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) as the
system operator and metering services provider.

The trial operations program - which shall commence in June 26 - contains a
set of preparatory activities that aim to familiarize all Mindanao
participants in the implementation of the WESM via the market systems and
procedures to be deployed.

PEMC said Mindanao participants are expected to be involved in the conduct
of end-to-end testing of all interfaces and systems that will involve
simulations of all processes such as registration, bid submission, pricing
and scheduling and settlement.

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

Prior to the launching of WESM Mindanao, PEMC held a kick-off meeting last
May 25 to discuss the market systems to be deployed and on-site installation
of user access interfaces was also undertaken.

It also arranged hands-on trainings to acquaint the participants of the user
interfaces.

To ensure readiness of participants prior to the commercial operations of
the spot market, PEMC has lined up several capacity-building activities
parallel to the trial operations program.

PEMC president Melinda Ocampo said operating an electricity market for the
whole country will usher in transparency and competition in the generation
sector.

"We are looking forward to our presence in Mindanao as we fully realize the
vision of EPIRA in the creation of a one WESM where benefits of efficiencies
in electricity trading shall redound to the benefit of Mindanao end-users
through a transparent and reasonably-priced electricity," she said.

Established under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001,
WESM serves as the country's electricity trading market. Currently, PEMC
operates the country's electricity spot market in Luzon and Visayas.

Mindanao was not part of the WESM and its power grid is not connected to the
national grid.

Instead, 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 (DUs).

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.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/06/07/1707338/mindanao-power-spot-mark
et-starts-trial-run-june-26

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com