President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday expressed optimism that the launch of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in Mindanao will prop up investments and economic activity in the region, particularly in manufacturing and other energy-intensive industries that will generate jobs and opportunities for the people.
During the ceremonial launch in Malacañang, Marcos said having the WESM in Mindanao and an interconnected and interdependent grid in the country “will not only ensure a level playing field in the competitive energy market but will also provide assurance to investors.”
“In the long run, WESM will help in sustaining power generation investments to meet the ever-growing electricity demand,” he added.
The Presidential Communications Office described the WESM as a centralized venue for trading electricity for large-scale buyers and sellers, which aims to establish a competitive, efficient, transparent, and reliable market for electricity.
With the integration of the three main grids in the WESM, Marcos said the country can hopefully achieve its goal of having a joint WESM for the entire nation and of attaining total capacity for the Philippines’ power demands.
Likewise, the President also hopes the drop in fuel prices in the world market will lead to lower power costs not only for industrial users but also for household consumers.
Mindanao has an electrification rate of 87 percent and the WESM in Mindanao will play a crucial role in the successful operation of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) as the WESM allows for the efficient transmission and settlement of electricity exchanges.
At present, Mindanao has 4,321 megawatts of registered capacity, while its peak demand is only at around 2,167 megawatts, the PCO said.
With the establishment of the WESM in Mindanao, around 2,000 megawatts of uncontracted capacities can now be sold in the WESM and be dispatched at any given time, supplying to distribution utilities, electric cooperatives, and other end-users when their contracted power plants are not available.
The launch will also affect power pricing, as WESM encourages generators to compete and sell their electricity at a lower price to secure a dispatch schedule.
The government established WESM in Luzon in 2006, making the Philippines the first developing nation in Asia to introduce WESM successfully.
In 2010, WESM in the Visayas was also established.
With the presence of WESM in Mindanao, the President said the country can now look forward to completing the MVIP by end-March this year, which will benefit the people of Mindanao and the Visayas through the transmission of electric power between these islands.