Global power grids experienced minute-long frequency drops worldwide.
Years of research by Forschungszentrum Jülich traced the anomaly to internet-connected UPS devices running synchronized battery charge checks every sixty seconds.
A team of researchers, led by Dirk Witthaut from the Forschungszentrum Jülich research center in Germany, decided to solve the riddle at the request of the German grid management company Tennet Germany. After years of research and modeling, the team managed to identify the source of the problem.
How the research began
Initially, scientists assumed that hydroelectric plants were to blame, as the vibrations of their turbines can cause similar fluctuations. However, they realized that something that repeated with such clock-like precision had to be based on a digital clock.
To find evidence, the researchers installed more than eighty smart power quality meters on the Jülich campus. They soon discovered that the UPS devices check their charge status exactly every sixty seconds.
The reason behind the fluctuations
These devices, which are used everywhere to protect against power outages, are connected to the internet and their clocks are perfectly synchronized. The energy they consume for simultaneous control causes a small drop in power, which is felt throughout the network when it occurs simultaneously by thousands of devices.
↳
READ ALSO
HACKS.GR / RELATED
Digital Life
Sequoia Capital closes its London office and changes structure
↗
To confirm their theory, the researchers examined data from Ireland, where data centers were expected to consume 18% of the total network load by 2022. They found that between 2016 and 2021, the frequency drop in the Irish network quadrupled from 3 mHz to 12 mHz, and recently exceeded 20 mHz, even though the 50 Hz network is designed to withstand fluctuations of plus or minus 200 mHz.
How can the problem be solved?
The problem can be addressed if manufacturers add a little randomness to the device check schedules, instead of doing it all at the exact same second.
Periodic power fluctuations have also been detected in other network devices, such as smart home devices and microcomputers. According to the data, less than 3% of these devices have the latest software update.
>Stay connected with Hacks.gr
Set us as a preferred source on Google and find us on social media.
Preferred source
↗
end of article
Top comments (0)