The next three months will see stakeholders conduct trials runs determining how the country’s energy reserves be priced and traded in the immediate future, the Department of Energy (DOE) said on Tuesday.
The regulator has issued the advisory for stakeholders to participate in the trial runs.
In an advisory signed by Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, the full commercial operation of the reserves market requires the approval of the price mechanism and successful conduct of the trial run by the market operator, system operator and Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) participants by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
The DOE said since the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) has already completed preparatory activities, the trial runs may now begin.
The agency clarified, however, that the trial run outcomes will be non-binding and serve for the test participants as guides in the registration, scheduling, dispatch and pricing, metering, cost recovery and settlement, including interfaces of IEMOP, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and the ancillary services (AS) providers.
The DOE reiterated the results of the trials will not be used commercially for scheduling, dispatch, settlement and cost recovery determination that will happen later.
The IEMOP informed the generation companies accredited as AS providers of the mandate to register with the WESM and participate in the trial operations over the three months prior to target launching of the reserves market on 26 September this year.
AS generating capacity are meant to meet contingent reserves when a power generating unit trips or an transmission interconnection problem occurs.
NGCP earlier said AS help manage power fluctuations and ensure the quality and reliability of power flowing through the system. If managed improperly, power fluctuations damage sensitive equipment that lead to automatic load dropping and a danger to the transmission system as a whole if severe.
