Frequency deviations in Continental Europe including impact on electric clocks steered by frequency
Continental European Power System has been experiencing, since mid-January, continuous significant power deviations due to shortage in supply from one transmission system operator of the interconnected system. All actions are taken by the TSOs of Continental Europe and by ENTSO-E to resolve the situation.
The power deviations have led to a slight drop in the electric frequency. This in turn has also affected 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 5 minutes. TSOs will set up a compensation program to correct the time in the future.
So this is probably not about syncing absolute time, but about using the power grid’s frequency instead of a quartz crystal for the internal clock of a device. It’s probably cheaper to build devices that way.
Allegedly one or two power companies aren’t properly fulfilling their contracts. However, official sources don’t want to name the guilty parties.
I’m missing a lot of context here. Why are the “two countries in Southern Europe” not mentioned? What is the “conflict”? And why are these people not using radio-synced clocks like normal people?
(source: https://www.entsoe.eu/news-events/announcements/announcements-archive/Pages/News/Frequency-deviations-in-Continental-Europe-including-impact-on-electric-clocks-steered-by-frequency.aspx)
So this is probably not about syncing absolute time, but about using the power grid’s frequency instead of a quartz crystal for the internal clock of a device. It’s probably cheaper to build devices that way.
Allegedly one or two power companies aren’t properly fulfilling their contracts. However, official sources don’t want to name the guilty parties.
For a live view of the grid frequency and the current time drift see https://www.swissgrid.ch/swissgrid/en/home/experts/topics/frequency.html
Update: Continuing frequency deviation in the Continental European Power System originating in Serbia/Kosovo: Political solution urgently needed in addition to technical
Quote:
I’m missing a lot of context here. Why are the “two countries in Southern Europe” not mentioned? What is the “conflict”? And why are these people not using radio-synced clocks like normal people?
Normal clock radios are not radio synced in my experience. Is yours?
You are correct. I was thinking of the alarm clock my offspring has, but it’s not a clock radio.
Having a clock radio that requires mains power anyway makes syncing to the electrical grid frequency much more convenient.
Thanks to @johnLate for the comment with clarification about the issue.