Briefs · Frontier Science
Researchers have solved the mystery behind 60-second fluctuations in global power grids: unintended synchronization from large-scale battery storage and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems performing automated power checks at the exact start of every minute.
Your power grid flinches every minute, on the dot. Batteries did it. Firstly, the mystery. For years, TenneT Germany watched Europe’s grid frequency dip briefly every 60 seconds. Not dangerous, just measurable — and far too regular to be chance. A continent-sized machine, hiccuping like clockwork (sorry, turbines). Secondly, the culprit. Dirk Witthaut’s team at Jülich traced it to large battery systems checking their state of charge — all of them, at the start of every minute. One battery is nothing. Thousands, synchronised by the clock, are an 80-megawatt shrug. They proved it at 80 measuring points, then found the same one-minute signal in twelve grids on five continents. Thirdly, the damage. Hydro turbines slow, then speed up, sixty times an hour. In Ireland, where data centres eat a fifth of the electricity, the signal quadrupled between 2016 and 2021. And batteries may only be the start: air conditioners, heat pumps and washing machines all keep time too. Conclusion: the fix is gloriously boring. Randomise the checks. The grid does not need a new power station — it needs batteries that cannot tell the time together.
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