WESM prices surge 95.5%, supply drops, demand rises

As summer approaches, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) reported a significant increase in wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) prices for March.

The average WESM price rose by 95.5 percent to ₱5.34 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), compared to February's rate of ₱2.73/kWh.

Supply decreased from 20,512 megawatts (MW) in February to 19,611 MW in March, while demand increased by 5.9 percent to 13,670 MW.

Forced outages and power plant derations contributed to the supply decline, along with a yellow alert issued on March 5 due to an imbalance between supply and demand.

Luzon experienced a seven percent increase in demand to 9,713 MW, while Visayas saw its demand rise by 4.5 percent to 2,044 MW, both nearing the Department of Energy's peak demand forecasts for these regions.

Mindanao recorded slight increases in both supply and demand, with its WESM price rising by 61.3 percent from ₱2.72/kWh to ₱4.39/kWh.