Operations at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Luzon remain steady despite the sudden dip in demand caused by the tripping of some loads in areas affected by the recent earthquake in Northern Luzon.
The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) assured stakeholders on Wednesday, 10 August, that its Business Continuity Procedures are in place to maintain market operations amid emergencies like force majeure events.
Based on the monitoring of the market operator, average demand in July was slashed by 540 megawatts (MW) due to cooler weather conditions brought about by intermittent rains and thunderstorms over the past weeks.
Likewise, there was a notable 513 MW decrease in average supply due to reported forced and planned outages by some large conventional generators. These resulted in a slight 27 MW increase in the supply margin, making the supply-demand situation similar to June.
The average load price, on the other hand, was computed at P8.92/kWh, higher by 4.82 percent compared to the previous month.
The IEMOP, however, noted that the imposition of the Secondary Price Cap (SPC) mechanism, a mitigating measure to protect consumers against sustained high WESM prices, was also reduced to around 28 percent of the said period, indicating that clearing prices at more than P9/kWh had somewhat eased.