Why are some clocks in Europe slower due to Kosovo and Serbia?

Something strange happened with some watches on the European continent. From Portugal to Poland, from Denmark to Turkey, some watches began to go slower. And all because Kosovo and Serbia can not agree.



Ordinary wall and wrist watches count time thanks to a quartz crystal. Cropped into the shape of a small tuning fork that vibrates at a constant frequency when it passes electricity. (This is very cool, if you want - read the details of EN , RU )
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But the clock in the devices that connect to the main electricity network - microwave, radio, DVD, etc. - use network frequency to support and count time. The standard frequency in Europe is 50Hz, 50 oscillations per second.



The electrical network is stretched over the whole territory of continental Europe and is very intertwined, so the extracted electricity in one place can find its consumer in any. All countries are marked with a light color - connected and the network frequency is synchronized.



To maintain a constant frequency, the production and consumption of electricity must be balanced. If consumption exceeds production, the frequency drops, and vice versa.

If you are interested in watching the frequency of the European network in real time - this is the site . There you can see how from time to time the frequency falls below 50Hz and is then adjusted depending on the need.



Serbia and Kosovo are not experiencing the best period of relations, and after a dispute over the supply of electricity, the total network has lost 113 GWh of electricity since the beginning of January. This is an approximate amount of electricity consumption for 10,000 homes per year.

This loss slightly knocked the balance of the entire European network and lowered the frequency, as a small hole in the pipe lowers the pressure.

The low frequency of the network means that the seconds go a little slower for the old technology and have already led to a lag of 6 minutes from the real time.

And that's why I was late for work today.