Prior to today’s national grid collapse, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had explained that the frequency at which the national grid operates needs not significantly deviate from a range, else it will be extremely detrimental to electrical equipments and appliances.
In a post via X (formerly Twitter), the agency disclosed that the Nigerian national grid system is set at a frequency of 50Hz and that whenever there is a significant rise, the grid’s self trip mechanism is triggered.
The post titled “Info” national grid collapse simplified” reads: “GenCos generate electricity in a measured quantity MW (megawatts). The generated electricity is transmitted by TCN to DisCos in kV(kilovolts). DisCos distribute the power to end users.
“These 3 steps are considered a cycle , the rate at which these happen repeatedly is technically called a Frequency measured in Hz(hertz) The Nigerian national Grid is set at a frequency of 50Hz.
“This frequency needs to not significantly deviate from this range, else it will be extremely detrimental to electrical equipments and appliances.
“Therefore, when there is a significant fault from generation,transmission or distribution; a SELF TRIP mechanism is triggered by the Grid system. This is known as Grid collapse.
“Grid Disturbances are classified as when the resetting of the Grid system is done preemptively by system operators to forestall an impending issue which could lead to a catastrophic grid collapse”.