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Last updated: 23 January 2024

Three-phase electric power (industrial applications only)

A three-phase electric motor

Although single-phase power is more prevalent today, three-phase is chosen as the power of choice for many different types of applications. Generators at power stations supply three-phase electricity. This is a way of supplying three times as much electricity along three wires as can be supplied through two, without having to increase the thickness of the wires. It is usually used in industry to drive motors and other devices.

Three-phase electricity is by its very nature a much smoother form of electricity than single-phase or two-phase power. It is this more consistent electrical power that allows machines to run more efficiently and last many years longer than their relative machines running on the other phases. Some applications are able to work with three-phase power in ways that would not work on single phase at all.

Mind you, since three-phase electricity is rarely used for domestic purposes, the table below is only relevant to electricians, electrical engineers and other technically skilled people. Travellers and laymen should take a look at the single-phase voltage table.

CountryThree-phase voltage (volts)Frequency (hertz)Number of wires (not including the ground wire)
Abu Dhabi (not a country, but a state (an emirate) within the United Arab Emirates)400 V50 Hz3, 4
Afghanistan380 V50 Hz4
Albania400 V50 Hz4
Algeria400 V50 Hz4
American Samoa208 V60 Hz3, 4
Andorra400 V50 Hz3, 4
Angola380 V50 Hz4
Anguilla120/208 V / 127/220 V / 240/415 V60 Hz3, 4
Antigua and Barbuda400 V60 Hz3, 4
Argentina380 V50 Hz3, 4
Armenia400 V50 Hz4
Aruba220 V60 Hz3, 4
Australia400 V (officially, but in practice often 415 V)50 Hz3, 4
Austria400 V50 Hz3, 4
Azerbaijan380 V50 Hz4
Azores400 V50 Hz3, 4
Bahamas208 V60 Hz3, 4
Bahrain400 V50 Hz3, 4
Balearic Islands400 V50 Hz3, 4
Bangladesh400 V50 Hz3, 4
Barbados200 V50 Hz3, 4
Belarus380 V50 Hz4
Belgium400 V50 Hz3, 4
Belize190 V / 380 V60 Hz3, 4
Benin380 V50 Hz4
Bermuda208 V60 Hz3, 4
Bhutan400 V50 Hz4
Bolivia400 V50 Hz4
Bonaire220 V50 Hz3, 4
Bosnia & Herzegovina400 V50 Hz4
Botswana400 V50 Hz4
Brazil220 V / 380 V60 Hz3, 4
British Virgin Islands190 V60 Hz3, 4
Brunei415 V50 Hz4
Bulgaria400 V50 Hz4
Burkina Faso380 V50 Hz4
Burma (officially Myanmar)400 V50 Hz4
Burundi380 V50 Hz4
Cambodia400 V50 Hz4
Cameroon380 V50 Hz4
Canada120/208 V / 240 V / 480 V / 347/600 V60 Hz3, 4
Canary Islands400 V50 Hz3, 4
Cape Verde (in Portuguese: Cabo Verde)400 V50 Hz3, 4
Cayman Islands240 V60 Hz3
Central African Republic380 V50 Hz4
Chad380 V50 Hz4
Channel Islands (Guernsey & Jersey)400 V50 Hz4
Chile380 V50 Hz3, 4
China, People’s Republic of380 V50 Hz3, 4
Christmas Island400 V50 Hz3, 4
Cocos (Keeling) Islands400 V50 Hz3, 4
Colombia220 V / 440 V60 Hz3, 4
Comoros380 V50 Hz4
Congo-Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo)400 V50 Hz3, 4
Congo-Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo)400 V50 Hz3, 4
Cook Islands415 V50 Hz3, 4
Costa Rica240 V60 Hz3, 4
Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)380 V50 Hz3, 4
Croatia400 V50 Hz4
Cuba190 V / 440 V60 Hz3
Curaçao220 V / 380 V50 Hz3, 4
Cyprus400 V50 Hz4
Cyprus, North (unrecognised, self-declared state)400 V50 Hz4
Czechia (Czech Republic)400 V50 Hz3, 4
Denmark400 V50 Hz3, 4
Djibouti380 V50 Hz4
Dominica400 V50 Hz4
Dominican Republic120/208 V / 277/480 V60 Hz3, 4
Dubai (not a country, but a state (an emirate) within the United Arab Emirates)400 V50 Hz3, 4
East Timor (Timor-Leste)380 V50 Hz4
Ecuador208 V60 Hz3, 4
Egypt380 V50 Hz3, 4
El Salvador200 V60 Hz3
England400 V50 Hz4
Equatorial Guinea[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Eritrea400 V50 Hz4
Estonia400 V50 Hz4
Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)400 V50 Hz4
Ethiopia380 V50 Hz4
Faeroe Islands400 V50 Hz3, 4
Falkland Islands415 V50 Hz4
Fiji415 V50 Hz3, 4
Finland400 V50 Hz3, 4
France400 V50 Hz4
French Guiana (French overseas department)380 V50 Hz3, 4
French Polynesia (French overseas collectivity)380 V60 Hz3, 4
Gabon (Gabonese Republic)380 V50 Hz4
Gambia400 V50 Hz4
Gaza400 V50 Hz4
Georgia380 V50 Hz4
Germany400 V50 Hz4
Ghana400 V50 Hz3, 4
Gibraltar400 V50 Hz4
Great Britain (GB)400 V50 Hz4
Greece400 V50 Hz4
Greenland400 V50 Hz3, 4
Grenada400 V50 Hz4
Guadeloupe (French overseas department)400 V50 Hz3, 4
Guam190 V60 Hz3, 4
Guatemala208 V60 Hz3, 4
Guinea380 V50 Hz3, 4
Guinea-Bissau380 V50 Hz3, 4
Guyana190 V60 Hz3, 4
Haiti190 V60 Hz3, 4
Holland (officially the Netherlands)400 V50 Hz3, 4
Honduras208 V / 230 V / 240 V / 460 V / 480 V60 Hz3, 4
Hong Kong380 V50 Hz3, 4
Hungary400 V50 Hz3, 4
Iceland400 V50 Hz3, 4
India400 V50 Hz4
Indonesia400 V50 Hz4
Iran400 V50 Hz3, 4
Iraq400 V50 Hz4
Ireland, Northern400 V50 Hz4
Ireland, Republic of (Eire)400 V50 Hz4
Isle of Man400 V50 Hz4
Isle of Man400 V50 Hz4
Israel400 V50 Hz4
Italy400 V50 Hz4
Jamaica220 V / 240/415 V50 Hz3, 4
Japan200 V50 Hz / 60 Hz3
Jordan400 V50 Hz3, 4
Kazakhstan380 V50 Hz3, 4
Kenya415 V50 Hz4
Kiribati[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Korea, North380 V50 Hz3, 4
Korea, South380 V60 Hz4
Kosovo230 V / 400 V50 Hz3
Kuwait415 V50 Hz4
Kyrgyzstan380 V50 Hz3, 4
Laos400 V50 Hz4
Latvia400 V50 Hz4
Lebanon400 V50 Hz4
Lesotho380 V50 Hz4
Liberia208 V60 Hz3, 4
Libya400 V50 Hz4
Liechtenstein400 V50 Hz4
Lithuania400 V50 Hz4
Luxembourg400 V50 Hz4
Macau380 V50 Hz3
Macedonia, North400 V50 Hz4
Madagascar380 V50 Hz3, 4
Madeira400 V50 Hz3, 4
Malawi400 V50 Hz3, 4
Malaysia400 V (officially, but in practice often 415 V)50 Hz4
Maldives400 V50 Hz4
Mali380 V50 Hz3, 4
Malta400 V50 Hz4
Marshall Islands[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Martinique (French overseas department)380 V50 Hz3, 4
Mauritania380 V50 Hz3, 4
Mauritius400 V50 Hz4
Mayotte (French overseas department)[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Mexico127/220 V / 120/240 V / 440 V / 240/480 V60 Hz3, 4
Micronesia (officially the Federated States of Micronesia)[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Moldova400 V50 Hz4
Monaco400 V50 Hz4
Mongolia400 V50 Hz4
Montenegro400 V50 Hz3, 4
Montserrat400 V60 Hz4
Morocco380 V50 Hz4
Mozambique380 V50 Hz4
Myanmar (formerly Burma)400 V50 Hz4
Namibia380 V50 Hz4
Nauru415 V50 Hz4
Nepal400 V50 Hz4
Netherlands400 V50 Hz3, 4
New Caledonia (French overseas collectivity)380 V50 Hz3, 4
New Zealand400 V50 Hz3, 4
Nicaragua208 V60 Hz3, 4
Niger380 V50 Hz4
Nigeria415 V50 Hz4
Niue400 V50 Hz3, 4
Norfolk Island400 V50 Hz3, 4
North Cyprus (unrecognised, self-declared state)400 V50 Hz4
North Korea380 V50 Hz3, 4
North Macedonia400 V50 Hz4
Northern Ireland400 V50 Hz4
Norway230 V / 400 V50 Hz3, 4
Oman415 V50 Hz4
Pakistan400 V50 Hz3
Palau208 V60 Hz3
Palestine400 V50 Hz4
Palestine400 V50 Hz4
Panama120/208 V / 277/480 V60 Hz3, 4
Papua New Guinea415 V50 Hz4
Paraguay380 V50 Hz4
Peru220 V60 Hz3
Philippines380 V60 Hz3
Pitcairn Islands[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Poland400 V50 Hz4
Portugal400 V50 Hz3, 4
Puerto Rico480 V60 Hz3, 4
Qatar415 V50 Hz3, 4
Réunion (French overseas department)400 V50 Hz4
Romania400 V50 Hz4
Russia (officially the Russian Federation)380 V50 Hz4
Rwanda400 V50 Hz4
Saba[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Saint Barthélemy (French overseas collectivity, informally also referred to as Saint Barth’s or Saint Barts)[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Saint Helena[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Saint Kitts and Nevis (officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis)400 V60 Hz4
Saint Lucia400 V50 Hz4
Saint Martin (French overseas collectivity)[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (French overseas collectivity)[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines400 V50 Hz4
Samoa400 V50 Hz3, 4
San Marino400 V50 Hz4
São Tomé and Príncipe400 V50 Hz3, 4
Saudi Arabia400 V60 Hz4
Scotland400 V50 Hz4
Senegal400 V50 Hz3, 4
Serbia400 V50 Hz3, 4
Seychelles240 V50 Hz3
Sierra Leone400 V50 Hz4
Singapore400 V50 Hz4
Sint Eustatius220 V60 Hz3, 4
Sint Maarten220 V60 Hz3, 4
Slovakia400 V50 Hz4
Slovenia400 V50 Hz3, 4
Solomon Islands[unavailable][unavailable][unavailable]
Somalia380 V50 Hz3, 4
Somaliland (unrecognised, self-declared state)380 V50 Hz3, 4
South Africa400 V50 Hz3, 4
South Korea380 V60 Hz4
South Sudan400 V50 Hz4
Spain400 V50 Hz3, 4
Sri Lanka400 V50 Hz4
Sudan400 V50 Hz4
Suriname (Surinam)220 V / 400 V60 Hz3, 4
Swaziland (officially Eswatini)400 V50 Hz4
Sweden400 V50 Hz3, 4
Switzerland400 V50 Hz3, 4
Syria380 V50 Hz3
Tahiti (the largest island in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France)380 V60 Hz3, 4
Taiwan220 V60 Hz4
Tajikistan380 V50 Hz3
Tanzania415 V50 Hz3, 4
Thailand400 V50 Hz3, 4
Togo380 V50 Hz4
Tokelau400 V50 Hz3, 4
Tonga415 V50 Hz3, 4
Trinidad & Tobago115/230 V / 230/400 V60 Hz4
Tunisia400 V50 Hz4
Turkey400 V50 Hz3, 4
Turkmenistan380 V50 Hz3
Turks and Caicos Islands240 V60 Hz4
Tuvalu400 V50 Hz3, 4
Uganda415 V50 Hz4
Ukraine400 V50 Hz4
United Arab Emirates (UAE)400 V50 Hz3, 4
United Kingdom (UK)400 V50 Hz4
United States of America (USA)120/208 V / 277/480 V / 120/240 V / 240 V / 480 V60 Hz3, 4
United States Virgin Islands190 V60 Hz3, 4
Uruguay400 V50 Hz3
Uzbekistan380 V50 Hz4
Vanuatu400 V50 Hz3, 4
Vatican City400 V50 Hz4
Venezuela120 V60 Hz3, 4
Vietnam380 V50 Hz4
Virgin Islands (British)190 V60 Hz3, 4
Virgin Islands (USA)190 V60 Hz3, 4
Wales400 V50 Hz4
Wallis and Futuna (French overseas collectivity)380 V50 Hz3, 4
West Bank400 V50 Hz4
Western Sahara380 V50 Hz4
Yemen400 V50 Hz4
Zambia400 V50 Hz4
Zimbabwe400 V50 Hz3, 4