Learning from Developing Country Power Market Experiences : The Case of the Philippines

Deep reforms of the Philippine power sector began in 2001, aiming at competitive wholesale and retail markets. This case study analyzes the Philippine experience with wholesale electricity markets at the generation level, including design, implemen...

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Main Authors: Rudnick, Hugh, Velasquez, Constantin
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/428331548771494859/Learning-from-Developing-Country-Power-Market-Experiences-The-Case-of-the-Philippines
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31189
id okr-10986-31189
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-311892022-09-20T00:12:36Z Learning from Developing Country Power Market Experiences : The Case of the Philippines Rudnick, Hugh Velasquez, Constantin ELECTRICITY POWER MARKET EMERGING MARKET ECONOMIES COMPETITION PRIVATIZATION POWER SECTOR ENERGY ENERGY GENERATION Deep reforms of the Philippine power sector began in 2001, aiming at competitive wholesale and retail markets. This case study analyzes the Philippine experience with wholesale electricity markets at the generation level, including design, implementation, and outcomes. The spot market began operation in 2006, amidst adequate generation capacity albeit highly concentrated among few players. The reforms have successfully introduced market-driven forces to system operation and spot price signals for investments. Investment in new generation has recently been commissioned; generation concentration has plunged since the market’s inception (mainly due to privatization of generation assets); and generation supply has been generally secure (barring natural disasters). However, serious conflicts due to market power abuse occurred in the past; the market remains concentrated in four major players; and new competitors have slowly entered through the opaque and largely regulated market of bilateral contracts. Moreover, following aggressive capacity additions, baseload coal generation soared over the past decade, reaching 50 percent of total output in 2017, thus raising concerns about environmental sustainability, the optimal capacity mix (due to lack of investments in flexible mid-merit and peaking power plants), and long-term supply security of the Philippine power sector (since coal is imported). The case of the Philippines' power market highlights the importance of adequate ownership structure supportive of competition, the need of effective monitoring and oversight, especially during initial phases of the market, and the benefits and challenges that open and competitive wholesale markets can provide over time, especially in interaction with vertical integration (whether through cross-ownership or through bilateral contracts). 2019-01-31T23:57:57Z 2019-01-31T23:57:57Z 2019-01 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/428331548771494859/Learning-from-Developing-Country-Power-Market-Experiences-The-Case-of-the-Philippines http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31189 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8721 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper East Asia and Pacific Philippines
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ELECTRICITY
POWER MARKET
EMERGING MARKET ECONOMIES
COMPETITION
PRIVATIZATION
POWER SECTOR
ENERGY
ENERGY GENERATION
spellingShingle ELECTRICITY
POWER MARKET
EMERGING MARKET ECONOMIES
COMPETITION
PRIVATIZATION
POWER SECTOR
ENERGY
ENERGY GENERATION
Rudnick, Hugh
Velasquez, Constantin
Learning from Developing Country Power Market Experiences : The Case of the Philippines
geographic_facet East Asia and Pacific
Philippines
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8721
description Deep reforms of the Philippine power sector began in 2001, aiming at competitive wholesale and retail markets. This case study analyzes the Philippine experience with wholesale electricity markets at the generation level, including design, implementation, and outcomes. The spot market began operation in 2006, amidst adequate generation capacity albeit highly concentrated among few players. The reforms have successfully introduced market-driven forces to system operation and spot price signals for investments. Investment in new generation has recently been commissioned; generation concentration has plunged since the market’s inception (mainly due to privatization of generation assets); and generation supply has been generally secure (barring natural disasters). However, serious conflicts due to market power abuse occurred in the past; the market remains concentrated in four major players; and new competitors have slowly entered through the opaque and largely regulated market of bilateral contracts. Moreover, following aggressive capacity additions, baseload coal generation soared over the past decade, reaching 50 percent of total output in 2017, thus raising concerns about environmental sustainability, the optimal capacity mix (due to lack of investments in flexible mid-merit and peaking power plants), and long-term supply security of the Philippine power sector (since coal is imported). The case of the Philippines' power market highlights the importance of adequate ownership structure supportive of competition, the need of effective monitoring and oversight, especially during initial phases of the market, and the benefits and challenges that open and competitive wholesale markets can provide over time, especially in interaction with vertical integration (whether through cross-ownership or through bilateral contracts).
format Working Paper
author Rudnick, Hugh
Velasquez, Constantin
author_facet Rudnick, Hugh
Velasquez, Constantin
author_sort Rudnick, Hugh
title Learning from Developing Country Power Market Experiences : The Case of the Philippines
title_short Learning from Developing Country Power Market Experiences : The Case of the Philippines
title_full Learning from Developing Country Power Market Experiences : The Case of the Philippines
title_fullStr Learning from Developing Country Power Market Experiences : The Case of the Philippines
title_full_unstemmed Learning from Developing Country Power Market Experiences : The Case of the Philippines
title_sort learning from developing country power market experiences : the case of the philippines
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2019
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/428331548771494859/Learning-from-Developing-Country-Power-Market-Experiences-The-Case-of-the-Philippines
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31189
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