The Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) facilitated the export of excess power of up to 450 MW from the Mindanao grid, contributing to an average export of 341 MW to Visayas. This played a crucial role in enhancing supply security in the Visayas and Luzon grids.
Meanwhile, the Leyte-Luzon HVDC link, which connects the Visayas to Luzon, provided an average of an additional 296 MW to support meeting demand in the Luzon grid.
The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) presented its latest market data as of March 24, 2024, revealing a consistent supply averaging approximately 18,900 megawatts (MW).
However, The country experienced a significant uptick in average demand, rising from 12,372 MW in February to 13,185 MW in March. Despite an average supply increase of 138 MW, the heightened demand levels led to a decrease in the supply margin, declining by 19% from 4,757 MW in February to 3,860 MW by March 24.
During the first week of March, IEMOP reported planned and forced outages from various power plants, mainly from large conventional generators like coal, natural gas, geothermal, and hydroelectric plants, totaling 2,724 MW. Additionally, forced outages amounted to a total of 1,062 MW, primarily from coal and natural gas plants.
Consequently, there was a noticeable increase in the average electricity price, rising from 4.03 PhP/kWh to 5.46 PhP/kWh as of preliminary March 2024 data.
Regionally, spot prices surged in Luzon from 3.97 PhP/kWh in February 2024 to 5.26 PhP/kWh in March 2024, while Visayas and Mindanao witnessed price hikes from 4.58 PhP/kWh to 6.26 PhP/kWh and 3.71 PhP/kWh to 4.20 PhP/kWh, respectively.