Europe's power grid, the world's most interconnected, is set at 230 volts (an EU standard since 2008). Before that the voltage standard had been 220V (most countries) or 240V (UK and Ireland). Mains electricity varies in voltage and AC frequency across the world. North America is the biggest exception. All of these supplies are single phase, but there are differences in the supply wire configurations and consequently in the power distribution. Most European transformers are three-phase and on the order of 300 to 1000 kVA, much larger than typical North American 25- or 50-kVA single-phase units. FIGURE 1 – North American versus European distribution. Electricity in EU countries conforms to the European standard, coming out of the wall socket at 230 volts alternating at 50 cycles per second. The list also reveals that types A and C are the most frequently used electric plugs worldwide.
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