The Continental European Power System -- a large synchronized area stretching from Spain to Turkey and from Poland to Netherlands; encompassing 25 countries -- is experiencing a continuous system frequency deviation from the mean value of 50 Hz, and this since mid of January 2018. [...]
This average frequency deviation, that has never happened in any similar way in the CE Power system, must cease. The missing energy amounts currently to 113 GWh. The question of who will compensate for this loss has to be answered.
The decrease in frequency average is affecting also those electric clocks that are steered by the frequency of the power system and not by a quartz crystal: they show currently a delay of close to six minutes. [...]
For the system to properly function the frequency cannot go below 47.6 and above 52.4 Hz. At the extreme values of 47.5 (under frequency) and 52.5 (over frequency) all connected generation and devices would automatically disconnect. The average frequency of the period since mid-January 2018 until today was around 49.996 Hz.
Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
...meanwhile, at the HR Department Employee Punctuality Re-education Center and Garment Factory, Mitrovicë:
I'm not doing the math on how plausible the numbers are but operating devices on the grid (such as a generating station or an entire country's connected grid) out of phase causes reactive/resistive losses in transmission, so energy basically gets wasted heating the power lines compared to ideal conditions.
See "power factor" which is also why properly designed LEDs are a win over CFL enough for utilities to have subsidized folks switching despite American residential billing not showing the difference.
They shouldn't let journalism majors publish this sort of thing without some sort of review by an EE.
If journalists knew what EEs do, there would be a lot of completely true mass panic-inducing articles which describe fairly ordinary events. Enron wouldn't have even happened if it weren't for FERC abuse.
Am EE. Is true. Juice can droop.
Is someone running a massive Bitcoin farm?