GoKawiilResearchers trace worldwide 60-second power grid pulses to UPS battery tests
A team led by physicist Dirk Witthaut at the University of Cologne analyzed high-resolution electricity data from buildings at Germany's Forschungszentrum Julich campus and found a recurring 60-second demand pulse only in buildings equipped with uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). The researchers traced the fluctuation to tiny battery current bursts occurring exactly once per minute, and the equipment manufacturer confirmed these were automated battery self-tests run by the UPS management software. Because many such devices synchronize their internal clocks to common external time signals, the self-tests end up firing in unison across buildings and even countries.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The finding, published in Nature Energy, suggests that mundane device-level routines can combine into grid-scale electrical patterns when enough machines act in lockstep, a phenomenon the researchers call unintended synchronization. This could matter for grid operators managing stability as more digital, clock-synced equipment is added to power networks, since such coherent behavior might amplify oscillations in ways not accounted for in current planning. It also points to a broader concern for engineers designing cyber-physical systems: synchronized 'harmless' background tasks could have systemic effects that aren't obvious until traced at scale.
- Researchers linked a decades-old mystery of 60-second grid pulses to UPS battery self-tests.
- The pattern appeared in four monitored buildings, all containing uninterruptible power supplies, and was absent elsewhere.
- Clock synchronization across devices explains why these tests align simultaneously across different buildings and countries.
APC Back-UPS Pro Uninterruptible Power Supply — This article is literally about how uninterruptible power supplies subtly sync up and pulse power grids worldwide, and APC's Back-UPS Pro is one of the most common UPS units doing exactly that kind of battery self-check. It's a great way to protect your home electronics and servers from outages while also owning a tiny piece of this global phenomenon.
See APC Back-UPS Pro Uninterruptible Power Supply on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: hardware.slashdot.org, 2026-11-12
Published there as: “Power Grids On 5 Continents Pulse Every 60s. Scientists Think They Know Why”
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