# Internet-connected batteries cause minute-by-minute frequency dips on power grids

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/coordinated-disturbances-haunt-grids-worldwide-heres-how-researchers-solved-the-mystery/
- Published: 2026-11-08T20:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T20:47:45+00:00
- Original publisher: TechCrunch
- Original article: https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/08/coordinated-disturbances-haunt-grids-worldwide-heres-how-researchers-solved-the-mystery/
- Topics: Europe, Paranormal, Research, Science, Weird & Viral, World

## Key points

- Synchronous battery checks cause minute-by-minute grid frequency dips.
- The effect is visible across grids worldwide.
- Ireland’s dips rose from 3 to 12 milli-Hertz between 2016 and 2021.

## Summary

Researchers have traced puzzling once-a-minute frequency dips on power grids in countries including Ireland, the US, Australia and Malaysia to internet-connected battery systems checking their charge. The finding matters because unexplained or excessive grid oscillations can threaten stable operation, damage power-plant equipment and, in extreme cases, contribute to blackouts.

The team, led by Dirk Witthaut at Germany’s Forschungszentrum Jülich, first investigated hydropower turbines, a known source of very low-frequency oscillations, but could not explain the dips’ precise timing. More than 80 meters installed around the Jülich campus showed a matching signal at a battery storage system: many batteries and data-centre backup power units check their state of charge every minute, with synchronised clocks. In Ireland, where data centres accounted for 18% of electricity demand by 2022, the frequency dip grew from 3 milli-Hertz in 2016 to 12 milli-Hertz in 2021, with some more recent dips exceeding 20 milli-Hertz.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.