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The Philippine Electricity Market Corp. will extend the trial
operations of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in the Visayas
as it has yet to secure the Department of Energy’s nod for full
commercial operations in the region.
In a statement, PEMC, which operates the spot
market, is extending its Live Dispatch Operations (LDO) in the
Visayas, which is intended to test the readiness of the market
systems and the participants. During this time, all electricity in
the Visayas is being scheduled through the WESM market system.
WESM’s billing and settlements department has
also set up a mock system so the participants may experience
financial reconciliations during the LDO. The mock settlement also
enables the full testing of the financial system in preparation for
the spot market’s Visayas launch.
Initially scheduled to open on January 26, 2008,
the WESM operation in Visayas was moved by PEMC to allow
participants more time to complete registration and test their
market trading interface systems.
PEMC said that once WESM begins in the Visayas,
there will be “more efficient use of capacity as well as giving
the appropriate investment signals for more power generation
capacity at the right time.”
Lasse A. Holopainen, PEMC president, said,
“For the Visayas we hope that this will finally resolve the issues
regarding future power investments while maintaining competitive
electricity rates.”
Moreover, PEMC said the Visayas operations will
have a gross turnover of P38 billion annually.
Established under the Electric Power Industry
Reform Act of 2001, the WESM, which initially began its commercial
operations in Luzon in June 2006, was established as a venue for
trading electricity where electricity prices are set by market
forces, free from the restrictions of regulation.
-- Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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