System-wide electricity spot market prices increased by P1.37 per kilowatt-hour to P6.90 per kWh in April from P5.53 per kWh in March following the imposition of red and yellow alerts amid the high power demand.
The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines, operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, said in its monthly operation highlights that average supply for April (March 26 to April 25) reached 19,210 megawatts (MW) from 14,376 MW in the previous month.
The supply margins, equivalent to excess supply plus reserve requirement, were placed at 2,869 MW, significantly lower than the 3,827 MW margins in previous month.
Reserve requirement (regulating, contingency and dispatchable) levels were at 1,146 MW last month, lower than 1,876 MW in March.
“The April 2024 system average price in the WESM is P6.90 per kWh compared to last month’s P5.19 per kWh and it is recorded that 19.68 percent of the trading intervals for this month were subjected to the secondary price cap [SPC] compared to last month’s 7.04 percent,” IEMOP corporate planning and communications manager Arjon Valencia said.
The SPC is imposed when the rolling average of the generator weighted average price (RAGWAP)—calculated over a period of three days, or 864 five-minute dispatch intervals—exceeds P9 per kWh.
IEMOP said that once the threshold is breached, the SPC will be applied to the rate of P6.245 per KWh in the next dispatch interval.
It said that when the RAGWA falls below P9. per kWh, the regular pricing mechanism resumes without the SEC for upcoming dispatch intervals.
Most distribution utilities source a portion of their monthly power requirement from the WESM and its rates are blended with other supply sources. Alena Mae S. Flores
Meanwhile, IEMOP said the average price for Luzon also went up by P1.29 per kWh to P6.63 per kWh in April from P5.34 per kWh as demand soared to 10,310 MW in April from 9,385 MW in March while available supply reached 13,307 MW from 12,838 MW in March.
