Clocks running slow this week? Blame Kosovo

Saturday 10 March 2018

People may have noticed that some clocks have been running slow this week.

If so, it would be because there is a problem with the whole European electricity network caused by Kosovo sapping electricity from the continent wide grid.

Because of that, all mains supplied electric clocks could have been running slow.

The clocks keep time based on the frequency in the electricity grid, and if the frequency changes, clocks can run either slightly fast or slow. These clocks are sometimes the ones on people's ovens, microwaves or heating systems.

Guernsey Electricity has said it would advise people to check their alarm clocks and timed heating systems to ensure they are running on time, as as much as six minutes have been lost on clocks across Europe in the last seven days.

"You can use the internet or your mobile phone which will be synchronised to the atomic clock," a spokesperson said.

The incident has been reported across Europe as causing people to be late to work or school.

It is suspected to have been caused by a political dispute between Serbia and Kosovo that is sapping a small amount of energy from the local grid there - that has caused a domino effect across Europe's 25-nation synchronised high voltage power network spanning the continent.

The continental network had lost 113GWh of energy since mid-January because Kosovo had been using more electricity than it generates.

A European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity spokesperson said: "the continental network had lost 113GWh of energy since mid-Januarys because Kosovo's had been using more electricity than it generates.

It added that it was working on a solution that could bring the system to normal with "a few weeks".