Wesm-mindanao starts operation

The commercial operation of the Wholesale electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Mindanao finally happened on Thursday, more than five years after it was launched.

The Department of energy (DOE) said the commercial operation “commenced today, 26 January 2023, at 005h dispatch interval.”

The Independent electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) will oversee the market operations of WESM Mindanao. It will utilize two main systems-the Market Management System (MMS) and the Central Registration and Settlement System (CRSS)--FOR monitoring.

The MMS will determine the optimal dispatch schedule of all generators and customers in the grid, including their respective locational prices. Meanwhile, the CRSS will facilitate the registration of market participants and the settlement of WESM transactions.

The WESM is the country’s trading floor of electricity. It is a centralized venue for buyers and sellers to trade electricity as a commodity, where prices are based on actual demand and supply. Through it, power generation companies can sell their excess capacities not covered by contracts, while customers can also buy additional capacities on top of their contracts.

WESM started commercial operations in the Luzon grid in June 2006 and in December of 2010 in the Visayas grid.

The DOE had declared January 26 as the commercial operations date of WESM in Mindanao.

The DOE had published a draft department circular proposing to declare the commercial operations of the WESM in Mindanao on December 26, 2021. It did not push through, and the launch date was previously moved to June last year, which also did not happen.