The average system-wide electricity prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) increased rose 6 percent to P4.42 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from P4.39 per kWh on lower supply margins and the decline in the share of coal in the generation mix in November.
“In November 2024, the system’s average supply decreased from 19,897 megawatt (MW) to 19,492 MW, a reduction of 405 MW, while demand also declined from 13,972 MW to 13,659 MW, a drop of 312 MW,” IEMOP said Thursday.
“Consequently, the margin narrowed slightly from 3,835 MW to 3,793 MW (with consideration of the 2,040 MW reserve requirement), this change in supply and demand dynamics contributed to a slight increase in the market price, rising from P4.39 per kWh in October to P4.42 per kWh in November 2024,” it said.
The preliminary data from IEMOP covered the billing period from Oct. 26, 2024 to Nov. 25, 2024.
IEMOP, the operator of the WESM, the trading floor of electricity, said the while the supply margin decrease is the main factor, the share of coal, the cheapest baseload capacity, in the generation mix decreased slightly to 58.1 percent in November from 60.3 percent in October.
It said renewable energy sources showed growth last month with hydropower generation increasing, and solar and wind energy also contributing more.
Solar generation grew from 292 gigawatthours (3.0 percent) to 336 GWh (3.4 percent), while wind generation increased from 107 GWh (1.1 percent ) to 120 GWh (1.2 percent).
IEMOP said that among the three grids, Luzon posted an increase of 8.9 percent to P4.24 per kWh also due to lower supply margins as available capacity declined to 13,645 MW from 13,979 MW while demand declined to 9,663 MW from 9,915 MW.
The Visayas and Mindanao grids, posted lower charges last month.
Average WESM charges in Visayas declined by 18.6 percent to P4.82 per kWh while Mindanao went down by 6.6 percent to P4.85 per kWh during the period.