The Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC), which is the governing entity of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), has inked a deal with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), for the relevant parties to concretize energy transition roadmap that will primarily be anchored on escalating developments in the renewable energy ((RE) space as well as the deployment of sustainable technologies, primarily battery energy storage system.
The collaboration that UNOPS had cemented with PEMC is via the Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership (ETP), which is a five-year multi-donor affiliation of various governmental and philantrophic entities that have common vision to ramp up sustainable energy transition in the region.
According to PEMC President Leonido J. Pulido III, “the partnership agreement will strengthen PEMC’s governance functions and broaden its contribution to the country’s energy transition initiative,” and that can be done through capacity- building and technical assistance that shall be endowed by the ETP.
The virtual signing of the agreement had been between Pulido and Atty Elvin Hayes E. Nidea for PEMC; while UNOPS had been represented by Multi-Country Office Director Samina Kadwani and ETP Director Sirpa Jarvenpaa; and the event was witnessed by the Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the Philippine Competition Commission.
In the roll of initiatives being cast by PEMC would include a “study about the participation in the electricity market of battery and other energy storage systems.”
Presently, PEMC is also the legally sanctioned entity that will operate the envisioned Renewable Energy Market (REM) that will serve as a venue for mandated participants to purchase RE certificates (RECs) as part of their compliance to the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) policy in the sector. The trading of RE certificates shall be through the electricity spot market.
In the genre of clean energy technologies, RE and battery storage are ‘considered match made in heaven’, because it is the BESS that can plug the intermittency problem of renewables.
On UNOPS’ part, Jarvenpaa noted that the partnership with PEMC “is timely and aims to set up a resilient battery energy storage market mechanism providing competitive conditions for the battery storage services in the wholesale electricity spot market.”
With that innovative approach in the spot market, he opined that such will “de-risk renewable energy investments as part of the government’s efforts to dramatically increase variable renewable energy in the energy mix.”
Pulido similarly conveyed that “this partnership is our contribution in realizing the Philippines’ commitments in the Conference of the Parties (COP) through concrete actions and catalyzing the institution of climate justice.” (MMV)