Initial average price of electricity in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in the entire country for December decreased, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP).
Based on data from IEMOP, the decrease in average spot market power rates were mainly due to higher level of reserves.
As of December 10, average price per kilowatt hour (kWh) in WESM for the entire Philippines is at P3.90 which is 5.3 percent lower from full month November’s P4.12 per kWh.
IEMOP said total average demand in the country for the period, went up by 0.65 percent to 13,032 megawatts (MW) from 12,948 MW as average supply decreased by 0.73 percent to 18,712 MW from 18,849 MW making average power reserves for the period up by 19.8 percent to 1,346 MW from 1,124 MW.
Isidro Cacho Jr., IEMOP head of trading operations, said the initial P3.90 per kWh WESM price for the month that is considered low, may persist until early February next year.
Cacho told reporters in a briefing yesterday that historically, January is a cool month and demand is low. Demand may again pick up towards the end of February.
“… If indeed El Niño will have an impact, it will start by February. Remember, towards the end of February, we also see that demand begins to pick up,” Cacho added.
Meanwhile, as of December 10, average price per kWh in the WESM for Luzon is at P3.89 which is 2.75 percent lower from full month November’s P4 per kWh as average WESM price for Visayas is at P4.62 which is 10.12 percent less from full month November’s P5.14 per kWh.
As for the Mindanao grid, average WESM price per kWh is at P3.17, lower by 13.63 percent from full month November’s P3.67 per kWh.
