Mindanao seen ready for electricity spot market

Mindanao, which has been experiencing brownouts due to power supply deficit, is set for the interim electricity market (IMEM), similar to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) for the Luzon and Visayas grids.

“We are on track,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said of the IMEM launch set for Sept. 20. Trial operation has been ongoing since Aug. 26.

The system will go commercial after initial data on how much power capacity is available and how well they can be delivered are gathered.

“Hopefully by the time we have extra capacity in Mindanao, our reserve market will also be ready,” Petilla said.

On concerns that electricity rates will go up with the start of IMEM, Petilla said he would meet with Mindanao lawmakers today to help them understand the system and how it could help stabilize the power situation in Mindanao.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is in talks with embedded generators for the installation of Remote Terminal Unit devices that are compliant with the requirements of the IMEM. Embedded generators are end-users or entities whose generating units are indirectly connected to the grid through the distribution utility’s lines. They may also refer to generation facilities of large industrial customers within the distribution utility’s network that are synchronized to the grid.

In the meantime, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has started establishing metering services compatible with that of WESM as well as an online program (imem.ngcp.ph) that will help grid customers in the operation of the Interim Mindanao Electricity Market (IMEM).

The transmission service provider and grid operator said the online program would be used to upload and download generators’ and load customers’ capacity nomination data and schedules for the use of all players in the electricity market in Mindanao.