I’m not an expert - but I understand that while this is true (generator loss causes frequency to drop), this drop in frequency can in turn trigger actual “power

I’m not an expert - but I understand that while this is true (generator loss causes frequency to drop), this drop in frequency can in turn trigger actual “power outages” for users. Automated systems respond to sagging frequency by shedding loads - reducing the demand for power, so that the frequency can increase and a new equilibrium can be achieved. The goal is to avoid an uncontrolled cascade across the power network as demand outstrips supply; this is substantially harder to manage than a short interruption. The UK does have battery-powered frequency management services, but it looks like it was quite a large and sudden drop in generation capacity that caused this deviation, and it took several minutes before it was back to normal. Not totally sure what it was yet, but sounds like a gas turbine generator suddenly tripped, along with a nearby offshore wind farm, taking out about a gigawatt of capacity that normal frequency stabilisation couldn’t handle, resulting in load shedding.