NPC, PSALM split WESM trading functions
Thursday, March 09, 2006
By MYRNA M. VELASCO
State-owned National Power Corporation (NPC) and successor-company Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) have acquiesced to split responsibility in trading capacity at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.
"Our agreement is for NPC to transact capacity of the plants it owns, while we take charge over trading the generated capacity of the IPPs (independent power producers)," disclosed Froilan A. Tampinco, PSALM vice president for asset management and electricity trading group.
Such arrangement, he said, will in some way provide boundary on what each agency will take account of in the spot market trading; especially so, since PSALM will soon be re-assigning such task to the IPP administrators.
The asset liquidation company made prior announcement that it will award contracts to at least four IPPAs within the fourth quarter, but due to some issues and concerns that still needs to be settled, the process may again encounter some delays.
With support from the Asian Development Bank, PSALM has engaged the services of British Power International (BPI) as consultant in the award of contracts to IPPAs; of which selection shall be undertaken through competitive bidding.
As planned, the IPPAs would become responsible for administering the IPP contracts and selling the energy output of their plants; primarily in the WESM.
With asset divestments still hitting some snags, energy officials are working on the concept of instituting "structural competition" between and among NPC-owned plants and the IPPs as their generated capacities are traded in the spot market.
In conjuring up this idea, officials noted that they are drawing models from other countries, such as Australia and Singapore, of which generation assets remained under State ownership; but power supply are competitively offered in spot markets.
posted by philpower @ 5:12 PM,
