BW FILE PHOTO

BOHOL is back to the spot market trading after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) lifted its trade suspension over the province after the grid operator has powered the 138-kilovolt (KV) Maasin–Ubay Line, which connects northeastern Bohol to Leyte Island.

“The recent resynchronization is a welcome development. In view of this, we are now lifting the market suspension in Bohol to ensure sustainable power supply and help in the province’s economic recovery after the devastation caused by Typhoon Odette,” the ERC said in a statement late Friday.

The 138-KV line connects the island to the grid and serves as an internal backbone, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said in a Viber message last month.

The province returned to the spot market operations on Feb. 10, a day after the grid operators reintegrated the island into the Visayas Grid.

Under ERC Resolution No. 12, Series of 2018, the regulator must determine when the spot market is ready to resume operations 24 consecutive hours after the grid operators resynchronize the portion of the grid that had been isolated.

On Jan. 17, the regulator directed the resumption of spot market trading on Visayas grid, except for Bohol, after the commission suspended the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) on Dec. 16 due to oversupply conditions among power generators after Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai).

The grid operator said it restored all lines in Bohol on Jan. 18, 13 days ahead of the initial target, after the reconnection of the Ubay-Trinidad-Carmen 69kV line serving the franchise areas of Bohol 1 Electric Cooperative (BOHECO 1) and Bohol 2 Electric Cooperative (BOHECO II). — Marielle C. Lucenio

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR