ELECTRICITY spot market prices increased in Luzon and the Visayas in early October, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) said, while prices in Mindanao fell.
The IEMOP said average price at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Luzon rose to P7.58 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the first two weeks of October, from P4.87 kWh in September.
As of Oct. 15, average supply fell 8.69% to 12,150 megawatts (MW), while demand increased 2.78% to 9,638 MW.
In the Visayas, the average electricity spot market price rose to P8.49 per kWh in early October from P6.36 per kWh previously.
Supply was 2,309 MW, up 2.03%, while demand climbed 2.06% to 1,884 MW.
Meanwhile, average spot market prices in Mindanao declined to P4.96 per kWh during the period, from P5.71 per kWh in September.
IEMOP said the supply of electricity in Mindanao rose 9.20% to 3,133 MW. Demand rose 3.61% to 1,893 MW.
The spot market serves as the venue where energy companies can buy power when their long-term contracted power supply is insufficient for their customers’ needs.
Queried about its outlook for WESM prices in 2024, IEMOP said: “We remain optimistic that WESM prices remain stable, subject to the normal demand and supply interaction. Hopefully, there will not be numerous forced plant outages as we have seen this summer.”
“Likewise, we hope that the ongoing Middle East conflict does not force up prices of oil and gas primarily used by baseload plants, which would in turn impact WESM prices,” IEMOP said. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
