Power Grids on 5 Continents Pulse Every 60 Seconds. Scientists Think They Finally Know Why.
Researchers say synchronized state-of-charge checks by internet-connected batteries and UPS systems are driving the recurring grid dips, which quadrupled in Ireland.
- Physicist Dirk Witthaut of the University of Cologne and his team identified routine battery self-tests in uninterruptible power supplies as the cause of mysterious 60-second electrical grid frequency dips, publishing findings in Nature Energy.
- Researchers first documented unusual minute-scale grid fluctuations in Scandinavia in 2014, with the persistent pattern appearing across isolated grids in Europe, Britain, Australia, and the United States, defying initial explanations that blamed only hydropower systems.
- Monitoring infrastructure at the Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany, researchers traced precise pulses to internet-connected devices syncing their internal clocks, causing independent units to perform automated battery maintenance checks simultaneously every minute.
- While individual battery checks create imperceptible disturbances, Witthaut noted that "even benign control routines can become systemically relevant when many devices act coherently," warning the phenomenon could amplify as digital adoption increases.
- Manufacturers can prevent these synchronized surges by introducing small variations into software schedules, a straightforward patch that would eliminate the minute-by-minute frequency drops affecting grids worldwide.
12 Articles
12 Articles
For more than 10 years, scientists have been unable to understand why isolated energy systems on different continents synchronously change the frequency every 60 seconds. The reason for this has been the most common one, written by RBC-Ukraine with reference to a study published in the scientific journal Nature Energy. A team led by Dirk Wittgout of the University of Cologne found that the cause of the momentary fluctuations is the automatic ope…
A study published in the journal Nature Energy reveals that a frequency micro-fall occurs every 60 seconds on electricity networks on five continents. This phenomenon is not due to random turbulence, but to the simultaneous self-test of uninterrupted power systems connected to the Internet, which switch up to 80 megawatts of charge at the same time.
The electricity grids are constantly changing, depending on the consumption and the weather. But one of them returned without fail, at the same rate, on all continents. The oscillation of the electricity grid which intrigued the managers is due to a cause as common as unexpected.
Once a minute. That's how often researchers detected a small frequency drop in power grids around the world. Behind this strange phenomenon turned out to be an unexpected culprit.
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