THE Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), the governance arm of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), is expecting the reserve market to continue to deliver strong grid reliability after the “success” of the market’s first year.
“With sustained fulfillment of reserve requirements and stronger adherence to the RCS (Reserve Conformance Standards) as well as the ROCC (Reserve Offered Capacity Compliance), the power grid is positioned for continued reliability improvements,” the PEMC said in a statement on Thursday.
“The success of the Reserve Market’s first year demonstrates its effectiveness as a cornerstone of the Philippines’ power system security framework.”
The system operator buys power reserves from the WESM, the trading floor for electricity, to support growing energy demand while maintaining system stability. The reserve market started full commercial operation in January 2024.
Citing its Enforcement and Compliance Office, the PEMC noted that the Philippines’ power grid experienced “remarkable” stability improvements with ancillary services (AS) providers boosting the availability of reserve power.
“The Reserve Market has proven to be a critical mechanism for ensuring nationwide reliability by facilitating the procurement of essential ancillary services across the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao grids,” the agency said.
It said that the participation in the reserve market increased across all major regions, with registered reserve capacity growing significantly.
“The growth reflects the successful implementation of the Department of Energy policy to promote generator facility certification for ancillary services and encourage Reserve Market participation,” PEMC said.
It said the reserve market has enabled flexible procurement of AS through spot transactions, which averaged 32.23% of scheduled reserves in Luzon, 61.46% in the Visayas, and 11.47% in Mindanao.
It also observed a “maturing compliance culture” among AS providers with a market reduction in non-compliance under RCS and ROCC.
The RCS assess accuracy, timeliness, and sustainability of ancillary services delivered by scheduled reserve facilities. The ROCC, on the other hand, monitors the compliance with the submission of reserve offers regardless of the existing AS procurement agreements. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera