IEMOP: Average power spot price rises on plant outages
THE average electricity spot market in Luzon for the month jumped by 32.49 percent to P5.26 per kilowatt (kwh) from P3.97 per kwh mainly due to plant outages, the Independent electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) reported Tuesday.
Visayas and Mindanao also saw prices rising by P4.58/kwh to P6.26/kwh and P3.71/kwh to P4.20/ kwh, respectively. overall, the average price of electricity in all grids experienced a marked increase, climbing to P5.46/ kwh from P4.03/kwh, Iemop’s preliminary data showed. IEMOP is the operator of the Wholesale electricity Spot Market (WESM). “From February to March, we have seen some increase in prices from P4 to around P5.46. this is attributable to a thinner margin and there’s some spikes, particularly in the first week of March, which is attributable to the some planned and forced outage in Luzon and Visayas region.
there’s a spike in prices at around the first week of March, which is attributable to the outage of some plants like Ilijan, Masinloc, Sta. rita, Mariveles, and some coal plants in Pagbilao, GNPD, QPPL, and others like Kalayaan, which are on planned outage,” said Chris Warren Manalo, IEMOP assistant manager for market simulation and analysis, during an online briefing on the March WESM rates.
While there was stable supply, which averaged around 18,900 megawatts (MW), the period saw a notable surge in average demand, escalating to 13,185 MW in March from 12,372 MW in February.
this increase was observed across regions, with Luzon exhibiting a 6.1-percent increase, followed by Visayas at 6.4 percent, and Mindanao at 8.4 percent.
IEMOP said the higher demand levels eventually resulted in a lower supply margin, dropping by 19 percent to 3,860 MW as of March 24 from 4,757 MW last February. this drop occurred despite an average supply increase of 138 MW.
then there were planned and forced outages from several power plants during the first week of March. the combined planned outages, mainly from large conventional generators, such as coal, natural gas, geothermal, and hydroelectric plants reached 2,724 MW.
Additionally, there were capacities that went on forced outage amounting to a total of 1,062 MW largely from coal and natural gas plants during the same period.
IEMOP also reported that the Mindanao-visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) has significantly improved supply security in the Visayas and Luzon grids by allowing excess power of up to 450 MW to be exported from the Mindanao grid. on average, the MVIP allowed an average of 341 MW to be exported to Visayas, whereas the Leyte-luzon HVDC link connecting Visayas to Luzon provided an average of additional 296 MW to support the demand in the Luzon grid.
IEMOP Corporate Strategy and Communications Head Isidro Cacho Jr. said a yellow alert may be issued by the national Grid Corporation of the Philippines during the dry season months despite expectations that new capacities will beef up supply.
“the possibility is always there,” he said, referring to the issuance of a yellow alert.
With hydroelectric power plants running below capacity level due to the el niño phenomenon, the Department of energy (Doe) said last week the Luzon grid might be placed on yellow alert in April and May. the Visayas and Mindanao grids, meanwhile, will have normal reserve level during the second quarter of the year.
nonetheless, the Doe ensures that any developments are immediately considered in the outlook to implement contingency measures. “the summer period exerts significant pressure on electricity demand due to increased cooling needs, leading to peak demand shifts in consumption and infrastructure strain.
We are, therefore, closely coordinating with all the stakeholders to carefully manage and plan for the effects of the summer period and the on-going el niño to ensure reliable and sustainable electricity supply at the same time we request the support of everyone during this challenging period by being conscious in our use of electricity,” Doe Secretary raphael P.M. Lotilla said.