THE trial operations for the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Mindanao has began on Monday, June 26.
Philip Adviento, Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) training and communications manager, in a text message to SunStar Davao, said the trial operations could last up to three months or more depending if all the conditions for commercial operations have been satisfied.
"The readiness of the participants and the systems is one criterion. Other criteria is approval of the market manuals by DOE, approval of price determination methodology, among others," said
In an earlier interview, PEMC President Melinda L. Ocampo said after the trial run, they will be submitting an assessment report to the Department of Energy (DOE). Based on the report, DOE will provide the go signal for the operations of WESM Mindano.
According to DOE, WESM is a venue for buying and selling of electricty between generators and bulk customers like distribution utilities and large end-users.
"It serves as a clearing house to determine the economic value of electricity at a given period of time," DOE said.
In a separate interview, DOE undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella told SunStar Davao that the launch and eventual market operation of the Mindanao wholesale electricity spot market is very important to ensure electricity supply is provided 24/7 in a transparent manner.