Dirk Witthaut

Stories

Battery self-tests synced to the minute cause grid frequency dips

Lead researcher on the Nature Energy study; available for comment

For years, engineers at the transmission operator TenneT watched the frequency of the European grid dip, briefly, every 60 seconds. The drops were too small to threaten supply. They were regular enough to be strange.

Updated 1 hour ago

Notable Quotes

We quickly realised that the cause must be something controlled by the clock. — Forschungszentrum Jülich press release

from Battery self-tests synced to the minute cause grid frequency dips · Updated 1 hour ago

You would simply have to distribute the checks randomly, rather than always starting them at the same time. — Forschungszentrum Jülich press release

from Battery self-tests synced to the minute cause grid frequency dips · Updated 1 hour ago