ERC approves amended price scheme for reserve market

By Alena Mae S. Flores – September 15, 2023, 8:50 pm
from manilastandard.net

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) granted preliminary approval to the application of Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) and the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines Inc.  (IEMOP) for amendment to the price determination methodology (PDM) at the electricity market.

PEMC, the governing body and IEMOP, the operator of WESM which serves as the trading floor of electricity, asked the ERC to include relevant methodologies and procedures for the trading of reserves or ancillary services.

“The granting of IR [interim relief] on the proposed amendments to the WESM Manual on the PDM paves the way for the full implementation of a co-optimized energy and reserves market in the WESM on 26 September 2023. This is consistent with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) pronouncement on the target commercial operation of the reserve market (RM),” the ERC said.

The reserve market allows for the trading of ancillary services or services that are necessary to support the transmission of capacity and energy from resources to loads, while maintaining the reliable operation of the transmission system.

“The granting of IR (interim relief) on the proposed amendments to the WESM Manual on the PDM paves the way for the full implementation of a co-optimized energy and reserves market in the WESM on 26 September 2023. This is consistent with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) pronouncement on the target commercial operation of the Reserve Market,” the ERC said.

“The co-optimization of energy and reserve is a PDM enhancement in the WESM that will allow the market trading participants to offer their energy and reserve capacity simultaneously in a specific day and dispatch interval in the market,” the ERC said.

The regulator said this market development aims to ensure reliability and sufficient supply of power at reasonable costs as part of ERC’s mandate.

“Further, the commission notes that the Trial Operations Program (TOP), which is critical in determining whether co-optimized energy and reserve is implementable, has yet to be completed based on the initial review of the documents submitted by the applicants,” it said.

IEMOP started the trial operations program for the RM on June 26.  It will run for three months.