The commercial operations of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Mindanao has been postponed once again to coincide with the completion of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP).
In a report by The Philippine Star, Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) spokesperson Andrea Caguete said it is looking to launch WESM Mindanao once the MVIP starts its commercial operations.
Caguete said that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has committed to completing MVIP by March this year.
WESM Mindanao was supposed to launch in late June last year, but was first moved to late December. The MVIP, meanwhile, was initially targeted for completion in December 2020, but was first extended to December 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second deadline had then to be moved to the first quarter of this year since one of the project’s cables, which NGCP had already laid, was damaged.
For his part, Energy Asec. Redentor Delola said the Department of Energy is currently evaluating the target date for WESM Mindanao operations.
Central scheduling of capacities for WESM Mindanao began on June 25 last year, giving participants more time to complete their full registration in the spot market. This was extended until further notice since there were participants that have yet to register.
As of October last year, only 39 out of the 96 expected participants have registered for WESM Mindanao.