System Collapse: TCN To Remove Non-compliant Gencos From Grid
To avert system collapse, electricity generation companies that fail to comply with the stipulated frequency control that ensures stability of the power grid will be removed from the grid, the Transmission Company of Nigeria has declared.
According to TCN, the failure of some power generators to stick to the prescribed frequency control was contributory to the instability in Nigeria’s grid, a development that leads to power system collapse.
The PUNCH exclusively reported that Nigeria’s power grid collapsed twice in the month of September as the quantum of electricity generated kept wobbling. The grid collapsed seven times in the first quarter of 2018 but this reduced to three in the second quarter.
Findings showed that the country’s power generation system collapsed six times in the first eight days of 2018. It also witnessed a collapse on the first day of February this year.
To address this development, the Managing Director, TCN, Usman Mohammed, explained that the transmission company was working on the grid’s frequency control in accordance with the standards of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Mohammed also stated that the TCN would soon deploy 260 megawatts of spinning reserve as against the zero or 40MW figure that was often the case, adding that Gencos that flaunt frequency control orders would be removed from the grid.
Spinning reserve is the generation capacity that is online but unloaded and that can respond within 10 minutes to compensate for generation or transmission outages.
The TCN boss said, “At the frequency control, we have maintained 49.5 Hertz and 50.5Hz as we promised. About two weeks ago, we commenced the implementation of moving from 49.5Hz and 50.5Hz to 49.75Hz and 50.25Hz which is the NERC standard. So you could see that in the last few weeks the frequency was more stable than in the past.”
