Japan's Massive Mistake of Building Two Incompatible Power Grids
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Video written by Tristan Purdy
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"There is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution" -Russian proverb
I like that.
Russians are pretty good at proverbs.
Another one I like: "Don’t blame a mirror for your ugly face."
That's a very apt quote.
That's why I like permanent solutions to temporary problems
Nice
It was a blessing for Japanese manufacturers though: having both 50 and 60Hz grids at home encouraged manufacturers to make devices that could work on both frequencies, leading to easy exports around the world.
almost all devices work on both frequencies, some electric motors will spin faster on 60hz but that's it.
@@tubaeseries5705What? No?
Anything that runs on DC will need a converter and that converter will only work on one frequency (range).
@ninjadev64 Yeah I think NES was DC power (there was some TH-cam video of a guy running one off of a car battery
That guy's name is Linus?
@@ninjadev64except for universal motors, lightbulbs
japan's most recognizable international mascot is an electric mouse
Pika pika Pikachu
@@TrangleC the world doesn't revolve around your opinion or experiences.
@@TrangleC Pokemon is literally, objectively, the highest grossing media franchise of all time. If you're going to be a dick, at least try to be correct first.
and yet they have problems with electricity
@@TrangleC I, someone who’s not a Millenial, but, rather, born in Gen Z, love Pokémon to death. Me and.... so many others. We actually *do* care about video games- Pokémon, obviously, included. You can’t assume things about entire generations (usually).
"Eastern electricity couldn't be easily transferred to the west."
This is backwards. Eastern Japan had the shortage.
Yep. Fukushima is in the East, The West had no shortages.
Mistakes video
I live in Osaka, in the western half, and the entire country was heavily affected by power shortages, since the entire nuclear fleet was shut down following the disaster.
In the summer of 2011 the city had scheduled rolling brown-outs and everyone reduced electricity use as much as possible in order to keep demand at bay. It was a terrible, uncomfortable summer for all of us.
The next summer there were still similar, but less severe, restrictions, and it wasn't until about another year after that everything really started returning to normal.
@@davidh.4944 yep and that was because they went back to nuclear power:
How about a video on why it's called eastern and western Japan instead of northern and southern.
This is almost definitely a biproduct of the research for the latest Wendover video
Shhhhh...
This comment is about Bricks. No one needs to read it
@@siddharthsrinivas6271 Now there are many types of bricks
Shhhhhh
@@lezhilo772 what would you define as a brick?
"Why do we need to synchronise the power grid?"
"Because in several decades, an earthquake might make a tsunami that might break a nuclear power plant that will screw a bunch of stuff up and then the other side won't be able to send power over to fill the deficit because they're incompatible"
"What the hell is nuclear power?"
"I have no clue, let's worry about this later"
To be fair, the notion of nuclear power is closer in time to that 1890's decision than to today.
@@Xylos144 And the life of Cleopatra was closer to the opening of the first McDonalds than to the building of the pyramids, but that doesn't mean she knows what a mcdouble is. The Concept of nuclear power was probably on its way at this time, but might not have been commonly known yet as anything other than a new headline about the concept of turning these weapons of war into tools of peacetime
So a power grid supplied by the USA will get issues with a Nuclear power plant designed by the USA ...which is in the half of the country using the Euro Grid ... !
Ah, who is the owner of these memories?
Given that all means of producing electricity are vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis and the fact that Japan in an island on a faultline, this was actually not nearly as unforeseeable as it might sound.
Anyone remember watching this before the Texas outage and appreciating the information now?
Maybe some of the more authoritarian placese.g. mainland China will take the opportunity to say something like: _We have freedom from outages_
@@lzh4950 “more authoritarian”
yeah but the only reason for Texas' problems is literally just republicans being stupid. It isnt a matter of incompatible grids like in japan. We could hook up Texas' grid to the rest of the country tomorrow and do it quite easily, but their state government runs on stupid, so they won't do it.
@@companyoflosers no it isn't that easy at all, it will take a while to actually sync and hook everything up, also if the local grid failed in taxes it might have cascaded to the whole US
@@misham6547 Texas' power grid, unless I'm mistaken, doesn't operate on a different frequency or technology than the rest of the country. They just don't want their utility companies held to the same regulatory standard as the rest of the country. as for what happens if their grid is integrated and connected, the same thing happens that would happen if any other part of the grid failed. the whole country doesn't suddenly go down just because of Texas.
Actually, except for the tsunami in 2011, Japan's electric service is extremely reliable. Even then, it was mostly up, although there were some temporary shortages. It still makes no sense to have two grids, though.
Interestingly, Japan also distributes two incompatible types of natural gas. Depending on where you live, you need the right kind of gas appliances. The wrong kind won't work and can even be a dangerous hazard. I've never understood why this continues to persist.
Yeah, I went and bought a gas cooker. And got asked if I was on LP gas or the other one. I was confused and guessed LP, luckily I was right. 😂
Tokyo actually had to work around lack of electricity about a month back because there was another semi-serious earthquake around the same region. I didn't look into it since I live in Western Japan, but I saw it on the news.
@@327legomanLP is propane, "Toshi" (city gas) is natural gas (mostly methane). In my area of the US we have both types as well-natural gas where underground pipes are available, and propane where they aren't and the fuel has to be delivered by truck. I'll be mildly surprised if they have centralized propane distribution infrastructure for some reason.
If you're wondering why we use both types, natural gas is difficult to store (for more than a few hours you can only really stick it in the ground/very high pressure storage tanks or liquify it at -163 C) relative to propane (liquid at ambient temperature and moderate pressure). If you have a tank of the gas you're burning sitting outside that gets filled every few months, it's propane.
@@reddragonflyxx657 Thanks for the info!
There were temporary shortages in HALF THE COUNTRY, while the other half was totally fine! Sounds like a win to me.
Didn't stop some gaijin "commentator" who had been there decades (and had to constantly remind everybody of this fact) whinging about how Osaka was brilliantly lit and "not saving power like Tokyo". Porcine excrement for grey matter.
“Just look at Japan”
Continues to look at the US and Canada
Yea but the Canada-US system works great.
Edit: It's split by the Rocky Mountains by the way
Have you seen texas?
I'm too busy looking at Texas lmao.
Strong independent state that don't need no national power grid.
and Australia
he said 50hz is slow and probably doesn't have a job, he will not say bad things about Great United Staet!
4:54 wrong way around my guy. Tsunami was in the east, so that side had the problems. Western electricity couldn't be sent.
This is kind of a big deal. Is half as interesting also half as factual?
Yea how would they have a tsunami in the west? Russian attack?
Material for another mistake video 😅
4:39 he also uses a gas stovetop as an example of an electrical appliance that might be incompatible.
@@Bryan-od3hg the most sensitive of electrical equipment.
Even if it has electric starters, i don't think it cares much.
"and then there's Japan, split right down the middle into two seperate pieces, just like a picture of your divorced parents"
damn he really lost his chill now huh
exactly what i thought
exactly
I laughed for a minute 😂😂
He's always making political or sociological jabs that are irrelevant... it's almost as if he has a political agenda, but I'm sure he would *never* be a leftist shill...
"Their most recognizable international mascot is an Italian plumber." The giant radioactive lizard would like a word with you.
Electric mouse wants to see you
The blue robot cat gives its greetings.
@@christiangomez2496what is this one even supposed to be
@@raiisleepI was just thinking the same
@@raiisleep Doraemon
"Japan has two grids" looks at the US having four one of which belongs to only texas
Edit: to everyone who said the us grids run on identical frequencies, that aged like milk after the Texas grid is dead now lol
Yeehawww!
At least each of those runs on identical frequencies.
The frequency doesn't matter
@@Ghost-ir3qj Frequency matters because it's more difficult to change frequency than voltage.
@Yu Non Shen japan has 126 mil citizen, if both grids have near equal population each one has ~60 mil inhabitants, Texas has 29 mil
2:38 And often covering a gaggle of cooperating countries. And then... there is Texas
Edit: That pre-blackout comment aged as well as the Texan power grid
That's what the Texans get lmao
Really poor planning! A majority of natural gas producers neglected to fill out the paperwork to put themselves on the priority list. So when load needed to be shedded, they were cut off, which caused them to stop producing gas, which meant more gas-powered electric plants went off, which meant more load needed ti be shed...
Would be funny if it didn’t kill so many people.
@@joedellinger9437 that's why it's funny
it's been like 3 or 4 months and my house still hasn't recovered from the "superior texas power grid"
Where’s the “I told you so”?
"Sone appliances wouldn't work at all if used on the wrong side"
*shows a gas stove
This video has aged spectacularly.
Sam, you must consider paying your good jokes team a bit more and let the bad jokes team relax.
@@AxxLAfriku I almost fell for it until I read “girlfriend”s
It’s really easy when they’re both the same team.
A constant unfunny stream of random nonsequiteur that body slams focus on the actual video equals searching for some other channel on the same topic
@@bigchum3984 so farrrkin true
@@bigchum3984 Or being too lazy and just leaving it at that.
Bold to assume he pays either
The 50 Hz isn't lazy. It's just trying to get its TH-cam career started.
Underrated comment
But works at double the voltage
Its gonna drop it's new soundcloud album soon, I swear
😂😂😂
Probably not as massive as Texas's massive mistake of attempting to build their own power grid
see also: Quebec
the issue In texas was joe biden collaborating with the canadian military to launch an invasion because everyone was preparing for global warming by buying ice cubes so no one was prepared for cold
and california has blackouts because twitter made a portal to reality and they're sucking up all the power canceling people for something they said in april of 1773
@@NebulonRanger I mean, Quebec succeded. Hydroelectricity is super cheap here, in fact it cost basically nothing.
@@legrandliseurtri7495 Yeah it wasn't really meant as a slight, just as another example of a jurisdiction choosing to maintain their own independent grid.
Besides, let's be honest, it's not hard to have cheaper power than Ontario LOL
@@legrandliseurtri7495 super cheap, and we supply more then just Quebec. We send power to the north eastern states, Maritimes and a small percentage to ontario
Yeah, that was quite interesting when I started living in Japan 12 years ago! Lol cheers from the Osaka part!
so you use 60hz
2:25 The Lone Star State and the Republic of Quebec both have their own energy grids. Why am I not surprised?
At least with those they actually run at the same 60Hz as the rest of the continent and are connected to the main grids so an issue in one can be dealt with by taking power from another.
Apparently New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, & the island of Newfoundland have yet to electrify. Lol.
Although, in all seriousness the Newfoundland grid got a permanent connection to the Labrador grid in January of this year. I don't know about the NB & NS grids, however I would be shocked (get it?!?) if they weren't integrated with Quebec.
and Newfoundland/Labrador
@@brandenjames2408 New England actually gets about 20% of its electricity from Quebec, but it's transmitted thru high voltage DC (HVDC) lines since the grids are asynchronous.
God my reply to this aged like milk
4:53 The problem should be that electricity in WESTERN Japan can't get to EASTERN Japan, right? The earthquake affected Eastern Japan and knocked out the nuclear power plant there, after all. Video has it the other way around
Glad someone else noticed that! 👍
Was about to comment the same thing ;-?
Yeah, noticed that as well. But decided not to correct because fixing everything is impossible and, then, who would fix me?
"ahh I'll fix that later" ,look like he's committing to that quote
@@r.blakehole932 hehe.
3:58 That sign reads "Kabuki-cho Ichi-ban-gai" which means "Kabuki-district, First Street." The red gate appears quite often in manga, anime, and live-action movies and TV. And it's the entrance to the most popular red-light district in Japan.
Never thought I'd hear a sign say "Psst, hey kid..."
Yakuza fans know it as Kamurocho and Tenkaichi street
...n-not that oldgringo k-knows anything about manga or anime...b-baka... :)
3:27 AC is actually less efficient for transmission than high voltage DC. The main reason we use AC is because the efficiency benefit of transformers over DC-DC converters far surpasses the efficiency benefit of HVDC over AC.
It isn't the efficiency of transformers, but the fact that it is more difficult to change voltage on an large scale. HVDC is more economical over long distances though, as AC only scales up to a few hundred thousand volts.
No DC at high voltages produces more heat than AC. 30% of energy is wasted there. Hence we use dc
The other reason we use AC is that it is easier to deal with when it comes to switching. Open a switch on an AC circuit that is drawing a lot of current and you'll get a spark. Open the same switch on a DC circuit that is drawing the same current and it will draw a large arc (which in some instances will continue).
DC is infinitely more dangerous for the consumer to deal with which is why it was done away with in houses.
@@sw6188..and now there's concepts of returning to dc..
@@shantilkhadatkar1195 what makes you think that dc produces more heat than ac?
2:25 Texas: My goals are beyond your understanding
Quebec too
We've always been prepared for the succession
They are definitely not beyond anyone's understanding lol
Quebec's is different for a similar reason, but not exactly. In Quebec's case it's more an unintended positive, whereas Texas' was by design
@@Texassince1836 secession *
Looking into it Texas has its own grid for a mix of political and historical reasons, but its not like they don't have the consumption to make it worthwhile. It exists partially as a measure to isolate Texas wartime factories from potential grid related failures during WWII and partially to middle finger the federal government (added bonus: escapes federal energy pricing regulations). Texas is the largest consumer of energy in the US, Almost double California's usage. Texas historically has been a net exporter of energy and will probably continue to be for the foreseeable future. Texas doesn't need to import energy for any reason since it has large Coal and Natural gas reserves, and open plains area for wind generation. On average Texas electricity is cheaper by 2c per KWh as far as I can find. Maybe syncing to the Eastern Grid would be good but there isn't any reason to do it for now.
Half as interesting was explaining Japan’s power grid mistake. And I was like “watt?”
Ohm, I see what you did there
This joke is so bad it Hertz... 😐
@Skain it's the combination of the 2 replies that make the joke nice
I was shocked.
This thread has a lot of potential.
What's kinda funny is that DC is now becoming preferred for long distance transmission, as well as being used as an interconnect between two otherwise separated grids (east/west US/Japan) because there is no frequency to match.
And no capacitive leakage.
I love how they tell me that I need to switch to Ting mobile.. and then I go there and I see how much it really cost.. and I realize that they're Just trying to rob me of all my money
Pro tip: never trust sponsors, even from confirmed legit youtubers
Me with 75 incomplete assignments : *YOU AND I ARE NOT SO DIFFERENT*
Yes
wtf how do you have so many incomplete assignments. I'd be surprised if you don't drop out of school, let alone pass onto the next grade.
@@gaber7113 I think he was joking but if not then rip
@@gaber7113 can I get an F
@@D0or F
When you bring an American plugin accessory to an European electrical outlet............
EU plug is used by more countries tho
The joke was done in the movie Top Secret
"The Surgeons did what they could, but it took them two hours to remove the smile from his face."
In that case it's less the 50Hz and more the 230V that is going to cause you problems, but get used to having 230V, and you too can live in a world where electric cables can be thinner and getting shocked by the mains is less likely to kill you. Oh, and a much, much better plug and socket design.
@@SoulDuckling126 60Hz>50Hz (I hope we can all agree on this mathematically sound statement)
@@KahruSuomiPerkele Indeed, but while things like PC power supplies have had the ability to run at anything between 100V and 250V for ages now, a lot of smaller appliances don't, for cost and size reasons, and if you use those with one of those cheap travel adapters that only changes the plug and doesn't transform the voltage, you are screwed if your device expects 110V and gets 230V.
Texas is really regretting that now. 2:25
Opposite as quebec where we pay almost nothing for it and even fucking sell it to the US. don't privatise power grids
Reddit moment
@@tylerlackey1175 why? Because someone said something bad about a political concept you disagree with ?
@@magusperde365 coming from the emotionally bankrupt bot who seethes and obsesses over the US? Lul definitely was right, reddit moment
@@tylerlackey1175litteraly all the comments I can see from you are "weddit moment" I'm going to post you to r/celebrityarmpits so hard
Evolution of TH-cam Ads.
2010: No ads.
2015: Skip ads.
2018: Skip ads after 5 seconds.
2020: Video will play after ads.
2030: Video may play
2040: Video unavailable, watch ads.
2050: TH-cam renames "AdTube".
That joke about my divorced parents hit harder than my stepdad at my wedding.
"Zip Zap Zoom Juice ⚡", i will definitely use this term in my electronics class, when describing electricity.
It's what keeps them angry pixies running 😁
Japan's mistake of two power grids:
Meanwhile in usa there's 3. No wonder that the scrubs got recked in ww2
The US is huge and getting a lot of electricity across the vast areas of nothingness as the demand shifts between the coasts would be very, very expensive. Well, except for separate Texas. That just doesn't make sense.
if you watched the video its about japans two grids being incompatible, ours are! also check out the size difference between the entire US and japan
edit: size not sise
In the United States, both the eastern and western grids are larger than the European grids. Texas having it's own grid makes no sense though
@@loganricherson3749 It's Texas, it does not need to make sense.
Lol, Texans are now realizing that having their own power grid wasn't the 200IQ move their leaders thought it'd be
You do know that that snowstorm is a once in a lifetime thing right?
@@orppranator5230 you do realize that the federal government has been warning the state of Texas to upgrade their electrical grid specifically to prevent the possibility of a black out caused by a winter storm for decades right? Also with the advent of climate change weakening the jet streams that should keep the polar vortex further north. You better expect these kind of storms occurring more often
@@orppranator5230 Not so much a one-in a lIfetime thing. The bigger the max and mins in the regional temperature sine wave the higher the frequency of these “once-in-a-lifetime” weather events.
@@orppranator5230 Conservatard
@@orppranator5230 once in a lifetime is more than enough if it kills you
"Zip Zap Zoom juice"
Say that 1000 times fast
Electrifying comment
@@metanumia your vocal cords though
Said it two times and then gave up
Didn't realize texas was so prepared to leave the US...
Always wich is weird because we're so American compared to other states.
Texas: *Alright while you guys are protesting imme head out*
@@looseygoosey1349 no , you’re Spanish
Yup, independent power grid.
You couldn’t blame them
now do Texas
Cue Texas’s entire separate power grid failing, because it got cold.
*seeing the American electrical grid*
Oh, that makes sense, it’d be hard to get power lines over the Rocky-
Oh for God’s sake Texas
It gets even worse. Japan's Eastern and Western half of the grids can only transfer small amounts of power through specially designed equipment. US will be able to when the Tres Amigas SuperStation is built. Electrical transmission with AC won't work if different parts of the grid have different voltages or frequency. However they also need to be "in sync" or have electricity in one place "peak" at the same time as the rest of its neighbors (the peaks can't exactly match, but it has to be pretty close). So being off by say... 1/200th of a second could wreck a lot of equipment. Texas has the same frequency and voltage as the Eastern Interconnection. We could shut down the grid one day and restart it "in synch" with the other. But because they aren't "in synch" power can't be transferred outside specially designed stations that can only transfer limited power and aren't built yet. In Japan's case, the equipment on one side isn't compatible, but Texas doesn't have that excuse.
@@alex_zetsu getting in sync shouldnt be a problem at all. Power up some fast response gas turbines at off peak times, and have a nice coffeebreak til their powerplants made two revolutions more, (based on your 1/200 ms estimation, and my european 50hz instead of 60 because they fit nicer in 200 ^^ ). Not long ago europe "lost 15 minutes" because Russia closed some Pipelines to a neighbouring country.
@@wellenwerk3357 Well, then I have no idea why the Texas grid even exists. Both it and the Eastern grid have nominally the same frequency and voltage. All equipment on one is compatible with the other side unlike Japan, so if there isn't a technical reason for it, the only excuse I can think of is "Oh for God’s sake Texas"
@@alex_zetsu What I've seen in other comments about it is that because the grid doesn't cross state lines, the federal government doesn't have the authority under the Commerce Clause to regulate it.
So yes, "Oh for God's sake Texas" it is.
@@alex_zetsuIt was about the refusal to allow the Federal Government any control over powerlines. This was seen giving Washington more influence at best, or a springboard for them to take control of all electricity at worst. Their refusal to be a interconnected grid means they aren't under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and dodge several Federal Acts.
What's interesting is that they now are arguably in a better position to start working towards interconnection. Because they produce a huge amount of electricity they can leverage the Fed's desire to want the Texas Grid connected, with their own desire to avoid certain federal regulation. I believe they won a suit over a relatively minor interstate connection, so that it still isn't beholden to the FERC. (Though I want to clarify that my memory of those events is hazy and it was super legalese). With Green (volatile) energy generation benefitting massively from Interconnected grids, I expect them to work towards some sort of compromise in the future.
Oh and as to its existence, like many things it came about from WW2. Many War time assets in Texas needed large reliable amounts of electricity. The state felt that to be reliable it needed to be generated in Texas (where they had complete control over everything) which in literal wartime is a fair claim.
This moment when you're too early for the bots
Do I smell Factorio
In Japan, the plugs have no ground, yet many devices needed them, instead, there are random screws for ground.
"I told you so moment that proves Japan needs to synchronize their power grid"
the US government to Texas after the snowstorm. The US has THREE power grids, and the Texas one is outdated. If the country had one supergrid, so many Texans wouldn't have lost power. And consumers would save billions a year through increased efficiency. The project of the Tres Amigas superstation located in eastern New Mexico, where the three grids converge, will make one united grid possible
Actually there are two different main grids in the USA because there are big differences in population density between east and west. In the western USA people are more heavily concentrated in the coastal states along the Pacific Ocean, while interior areas are much more lightly populated. This existence of lower demand in the latter regions led to the construction of fewer high capacity carrier lines. This made it very expensive to shunt power from western producers to eastern USA consumers, and vice versa.
Texas, however, has no excuse for a separate gris.
The reason is Federal regulation. Texas is trying to avoid interstate regulation. So the question becomes, should the Federal regulation be reformed or does Texas have to decide to go interstate or not.
We should have several grids, supergrids will kill millions of people in our next war when two fucking buildings are easily destroyed and the entire country ends up without power.
It's not just the TX grid that's outdated, it's the three grids because they were all built at the same time, if not updated soon, they will fail more and more over the years.
A few points:
1. Japan's grids are extremely reliable. In 25 years in Japan I have experienced exactly one power outage and that was a building issue not a grid issue. Electricity in Japan is quite expensive but the reliability is incredible.
2. The issues of having two grids have been known for a very long time. The 1995 Kobe quake highlighted it because generator trucks from east Japan couldn't come and help power hospitals in Kobe. It was certainly a known problem long before that but that was probably the first time there was a real problem caused by the different grids.
3. It will never be fixed now. Power generation plants generate at a fixed frequency. Unless half the country replaced all their power plants it's staying as two separate grids.
4. The 2011 quake was in Tohoku which is in north-east Japan. Therefore the problem was that power couldn't be sent from west to east, not from east to west. (There actually is a limited capacity to share power between the grids but of course this requires massive transformers so it's quite limited.)
I would think that the border between the east and west grids could be moved a little at a time. consider someone in a city on the 50hz side, the government decides the entire country will become 60hz, so they increase capacity on the 60hz generators and reconnect the transmission system to them. eventually the 50hz generators will be completely surrounded and have no cities to connect to, so they get powered down and retrofitted to 60hz if economical to do so.
@@martin-vv9lf Not practical, unfortunately. It would require replacement of all the power generation equipment, including all the nuke plants. As long as the world runs on AC, Japan will have two grids.
Mhm the cost of having two grids is not as great as replacing it indeed. If it ever was justified they could however pump in 1% of gdp over 50 years or so and move the grid in a steady pace. But it doesn't seem like it will, because people will have to buy new appliances and that would suck for them. If it was just an issue on infrastructure level it'd be fine, but since it causes problems with people having to replace stuff, that sucks.
Now.. what's the issue with making huge transformers, that can turn it into the correct voltage?
"zip zap zoom juice" killed me XD
The fact that texas has a separate grid from the rest of the US is really, really relevant tonight
4:53 "because eastern electricity couldn't be easily transferred to the west." *Proceeds to show an arrow moving from East to West*
However, Fukushima happened in eastern Japan, so shouldn't the electricity be coming from the west to help with the disaster, not the east since the disaster was already in the east?
If that statement is correct, my guess is that most of the nuclear power plants in Japan are connected to the western grid. When these plants detect and earthquake they automatically SCRAM, meaning they turn themselves off. This might be true for other types of power plants as well. So when the earthquake hit perhaps the western grid could have had more plants effected. Again this is just a guess. I'm not sure how strong the earthquake was in the western part of the country.
We will see on the next correcting mistakes video if this is indeed incorrect.
I agree with waffle's comment. The only way I can imagine that the video is correct would have been if Japan had decided to shut down all their nuclear reactors in both east and west Japan because of the tsunami risk (since nuclear power plants in Japan always are near the coast).
Yup, you are correct. The shortage of electricity had happened in East of Japan, and couldn't transfer the electricity from West to east. I have lived in Nagoya, Westside of Japan, and got through that time, but we didn't have any power cuts while East side did that systematically (we called 計画停電, planned power cuts).
Honestly you can't drop 2 references to Japan having cube watermelons and not make a video about it... I'll wait!
Cries in Brazilian with even the same metropolitan area having 2 different voltages
Is it true that people in Brazil often have both 230V 50Hz and 110V 60Hz connections in the same house? I knew someone from Brazil once, and he definitely had that.
The map is also wrong because Roraima isn't connected to the SIN.
@@rjfaber1991 Our entire grid operates at 60Hz, so no. It is possible however to have different voltages in the same home, if you connect 2 phases of 127V 60Hz you get 220V 60 Hz.
@@Roarshark7359 Ah, I see. So you designed your system so that the two-phase voltage is just about compatible with North American appliances, and your three-phase voltage is compatible with European appliances (apart from the frequency, obviously). That is quite clever, in a way.
E ainda me inventam dois tipos de plugues: um para 10 amperes e outro para 20 amperes. Trágico...
Texas: Write this down write this down
Dang. Just days after this was released Japan gets an earthquake but seems to have been unscathed and Texas is suffering a major power outage with a snow storm. This video needs an update about why Texas’s power grid is like that.
2:50 - But... I thought you and Wendover Productions love each other! Is it because of us? Did we tear you apart by asking for bricks all the time?!
So early that shoguns are still in power.
I came earlier that Emperor had power.
I came when the shikken had the power.
50 or 60 Hz?
There was technically only ever one shogun who held power at any given time, so the plural doesn't really make sense in that sentence. But I do realise I sound like the world's biggest killjoy saying this, so please ignore it.
Revisiting this video a day after it was posted and boy, how timely given the earthquake today has shut off power in some areas near Fukushima again...
Today the USA reaps similar rewards for having seperate power grids (different reason, same problem)
Eh, most of the US isn't affected by it, just the one state that wanted to be different.
@@toadofsteel yes, and perhaps a federally mandated system would save that one state from its own stupidity
You can blame the Texas politicians for not wanting federal regulation which made this disaster even worse.
Japan: has two separate grids
Texas: haha that's cute
Quebec: c’est mingon
I love how this guy cracks jokes while explaining stuff. It really makes me understand it. Thanks Sam!
Cracking jokes about tsunamis and people dying is always hilarious /s
Are you a robot ?
@@milosm9280 I'm not.
@@berryhyun7775 *not yet
@@zmc9403 Alright, if that's what you wanna believe then sure.
after the snow storm causing mass power outages in texas you’re legally required to explain how texas having their own power grid affected them
I’ve been living in Japan for nearly twenty years and despite almost daily earthquakes and regular typhoons, it’s been the most reliable power I have ever experienced. Japan certainly has problems (like all countries) but reliable power isn’t one of them.
Well reliable power is a thing that most developed countries have. ( Last power outage that i can remember happened 15 years ago in my hometown).
But having two grids is just unnecessary, complicates and creates unnecessary obstacles.
I'm not sure where you come from but I think reliable power is expected in most developed countries. I've lived in Japan and the UK and much prefer the UK's grid.
I live in rural norway and for the last 25 years ive lived i have only expericend 1 long term power outage and it wasnt even the power grids fault, A parachuter accidentally chrashed into the local 24 kv line which lucily a power company employee saw and called in to the company and had the power shut down. If there was more metal in his parachute he might not have made it out alive. the power outage only lasted for 2 hours due to somobody had to help him get his parachute out and they had to make sure everything was fine. Considering we have tens of snowstorms with temperatures down to -40 degress and winds up to 30 km/h and there wasnt any power outages id say we have pretty reliable power here, only thing a noticed during a storm with poweful winds and lots of rain was a bit of uneven power so my light bulbs kinda flashed but that was kinda it.
What I really learned from this video is that they have square watermelons in Japan. The more you know.
yeah... and I can't figure out whether the WHY interests me more, or the HOW....
@@blabla-rg7ky easy , it was not square . They encapsuled the eclipse shape watermelon in a square box . This is done when the watermelon is still small . Then it will grown into its full size but stuck with the shape of that square box .
@@MegaFirdaus1234 ok, that makes sense. But.... WHY??? WTF is wrong with people? What's wrong with eclipse watermelons? Fucking weirdos lol
@@blabla-rg7ky square is easier to stack and takes up less room when stacked. Therefore better for transporting. Not sure that covers the cost of making them square but.
@@timpope392 yes? go on...
They actually connect the two systems together by converting the AC to DC and transfer it across and then it is converted back to AC at which ever frequency depending on the direction of flow.
The same happens between Europe and UK.
The UK has changed its standards to meet European standards, but it's not noticeable because the frequency is the same, and the difference in voltage is minimal, and voltage doesn't need to be a clear cut number, but the way it works allows for variations and thus changing to 230V without problems for consumers.
There are also DC interlinks in at least 2 places in the USA.
then there's texas...
I'm in TX wish I had electricity in general
Reddit moment
"Girlfriend", I thought he meant something else because I weren't looking.
He meant some anime girl :v
That must of been a shock to them
Hello from Texas. We have power again and are looking to hook up with hot grids in your neighborhood. Japan, how u doin?
*Drinks Zip-Zap-Zoom Juice*
"Urgh... Watt is happening? It Hertz...."
Small mistake at 4:55. In actuality western electricity couldn't be easily transferred to the east, not the other way around as said in the video. Great video though
I learn more in 1 HAI video than I learnt in my whole school life
I would not say that out loud... ;P
@@Oystein87 why
@@sloanestreetaddict2954 Because litteraly saying you learned zero in school is not a good thing.... :P
@@Oystein87 Schools in London are shit
@@sloanestreetaddict2954 Haha😂👌
The electroboom fan be like:
FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER!!
with a 50hz inverter...
I like how the video could be summarised into 'western japan got parts from US, east got from Europe'
At @4:48 he said there were blackouts following the Fukushima disaster were because the east couldn't power the west. I would've thought it was the other way around because Fukushima is in the eastern area and therefore that would've been the area with an electricity deficit.
I hope you can handle a fair bit of criticism, cause as a electrical engineer I do have a few. (IMO you should do as Kurzgesagt and check your script with at least one expert/engineer in topics like these before releasing your videos.)
Your latest Wendover video also had errors as well, where you mixed up the roles of inverters and rectifiers which invalidated your price argument.
In this video [3:24] it is incorrect that AC is more efficient in long distance transfer than DC. It is in fact the opposite.
AC is not more efficient to transfer than DC, it is just cheaper when it comes to equipment like transformers. Along the whole power grid, you have smaller towns, street lights and more that requires to be connected to the grid. The grid therefore have a lot of transformers along the way, to connect each of these. AC transformers are cheaper and easier to make than DC transformers.
In addition it is also both more power efficient and cheaper to use a rectifier to transform AC into DC, than there is to use an inverter to transform DC into AC. So whenever you have a mix of equipment (like in the industry) where some use AC and other use DC, it is again cheaper to have a AC grid and then use a rectifier in front of any DC equipment. Also motors and other industrial equipment that have designs that exist for either AC or DC tends to be more efficient and/or powerful when designed for AC rather than DC. That is one reason why the Tesla is choosing to use a AC motor and inverter, instead of a DC motor directly to the battery. It is also because the inverter can control the speed of the motor, while a DC motor would need a variable DC/DC transformer, which is even more expensive than an inverter.
Back to the grid, if you however do not have any connections along the grid, and when connecting different types of grids together, for example the grid between Norway and Denmark/Germany/UK, then they use a DC power cable. With no connections in-between both ends of the cable, the DC becomes the cheaper option because the cable does not need to be as wide in diameter as it would had to be with AC. The reason the width of the cable can be smaller when using DC is because it is more efficient to transfer in DC. The full explanation for this would take more than a long youtube comment, but it has to do with how the magnetic field in AC pushes the electrons from the center of the cable out to the edges, which DC does not. Also, DC grid allows for the different grids to stay desynchronized when connecting them. These two reasons is why the sea cables from Norway to Denmark/Germany/UK uses DC.
Between east and west Japan, you have such connections that transforms from 60Hz AC to DC to 50Hz AC again, and opposite. So their grid is connected, but not in synch. Each connection is limited in capacity and during the 2011 earthquake, that limit was too low to be able to transfer enough power from west to east when needed.
Denmark is also split in two grids, but both grids are 50Hz. It's otherwise the same as Japan in that they are connected, but not in synch.
When I write "in synch" it's about the alternating sinus curve being in the same position which is only applicable in AC grid.
Thank you for explaining mate!!! I really redent myself for not focusing more on physics and math back in the day :(
At the time the US power grid was being built AC was more efficient and cheaper to transmit than DC. HVDC has yet to make great progress in the US, because of the AC infrastructure.
Since he lives in the US he probably came across the information in the US perspective.
Your long comment really sums it up
My internal electrical engineer was screaming when i reached the end of the video but realised that it missed the point
it could have been an amazing topic but what a disappointment this was
DC Transformers?
@@NihongoGuy DC-to-DC converters, also known as Buck or Boost converters
It's actually easy enough to fix through a HVDC link.
I live in a country where the majority of base load is located on one side of a HVDC link and the majority of the generation is on the other side. And because we are 75ish percent hydro in dry years we have to pump the juice the other way.
Yes both our networks on each side are nominal 50hz but the thing with HVDC is given enough capacitance the two frequencys should not be an issue
I will forever call electricity "zip zap zoom juice" from now on.
Spotted a mistake! The video should say the electricity couldn’t be shared from west to east, since the blackouts occurred in the eastern side of Japan.
This stopped me from spirling into hours of wedding videos
@Robert Slackware 😂
Ah, historical messes. My favorites!
It all boils down to -
- we do not have the technologies yet that are needed to close the gap between the time electricity is generated and the time it's consumed
- shutting down fossil energy without having a viable alternative is about as political as it gets. Everybody knows it - the reason it's done is to manipulate the "oil market" in a way that the money is flowing into the "right pockets".
Texas: 💧👁👄👁💧
So I for a short time worked for the Japanese Power management authority as an intern for my creative writing degree and Ill be honest this might have been on me.
Having disconnected grids can be beneficial though, too. During the 2003 Northeast Blackout, Quebec was able to isolate itself rather quickly and did not lose power, despite being pretty extensively connected to neighbouring Ontario, which was nearly 100% dark (along with most of the US Eastern Seaboard including New York, Toronto and Ottawa)
Only parts of New England were affected. That one extended more westward than it did northeast or south
I think it is probably most beneficial to have grids which can be interconnected, but don't have to be. This way you can avoid blackouts like in your example, but also can provide electricity to another area in case their power source fails.
A better topic for this video could have been "Why does Texas have its own grid"
The secret word is "deregulation". And it is a dirty, dirty word.
Wow, the timing on this video release is amazing. Texas has 2 power grids, one works and the other is broken at the moment - basically starting on the day this was released.
i’m never calling the zip zap zoom juice “electricity” ever again
I get the zip zap part, but why zoom?
Cuz it's fast. Zoom.
@ Because the alliteration works better with 3 Zs
Uh, you're wrong. The mascot of Japan is actually an electric mouse with rabbit ears. I think he's named pikablu or something
pickle-shit
But does it use thunderbolt with 50Hz or 60Hz ?
Pretty sure it's that pirate named Goku whose dream is to become Hoekagay.
@@LPPokefan ur asking the real questions. Is Pikachu PAL or NTSC compatible?
Looking at Texas’ own grid, on the day Texas is suffering from crippling blackouts during the winter, listening to this video making fun of Japan. Maybe got the tone just a tad wrong there
Zip zap zoom juice is the best thing I’ve heard all day
HAI's level of comedy never gets old
I spent way to much time laughing at "zip zap zoom juice"
Japan would probably have the least headaches from the consumer perspective adopting 60Hz power. Motors and power transformers experience something called core saturation which can cause them to overheat and fail. Transformers and motors are designed not to saturate at their design frequency, but will at lower frequencies. So if they unified at 50Hz some of the appliances in the current 60Hz region will fail and possibly catch fire (in addition to some motors running slightly slow). But if the 50Hz switches to 60Hz the only thing to worry about is some motors running fast and some clocks running fast. Though I suspect their digital clocks won't have as much issues. Japanese made VCRs as far back as the mid-80's would sense the line frequency and adjust the counters in their clocks to run at the correct speed based on the frequency (most digital clocks count AC cycles to tell time)....I suspect the Japanese market digital clocks do the same thing as the clocks in their VCRs.
Naaaah. 🙂I think what's really behind your pro-60Hz stance is the need to feel that 'your' system is better and puts you on the 'winning' side. Yeah! Crush, dominate, divide and rule, then assimilate!
Maybe make Japan the 51st State of the Union; force it to change to driving on the wrong (i.e. US) side of the road, too!
U!S!A!-desu!
And I bet you're into 110 volts and not a proper, decent 240... 🤭
@@EleanorPeterson Surrrre...Ignore an electrical engineer making a science based point about electrical systems because he's a yank.
If we wanted to make Japan the 51st state we darn well could have in 1945 (well technically it would have been the 49th because Alaska and Hawaii were still territories back then), but we choose not to.
North American 240V is safer than 240V on the other continents. Over here in the US we use center tapped 240V utility transformers, with the center tap grounded to earth...So on our 240V outlets both 240V wires are hot, but are only 120V WRT (=With Respect To) ground. So shocks from hot to ground (which are more common) are less dangerous than Euro 240V where the hot lead is 240V WRT ground.
Most outlets just grab one hot lead for 120V (instead of 2 for 240V)...I'm glad we don't have all the ENORMOUS, CLUNKY 240V plugs you poor Britts have to put up with. I've got racks of vintage recording formats (enough to give Techmoan a run for his money) and I'd have to delete a component form each rack if I had to make room for those cartoonishly oversized plugs you poor suckers are forced to use.
We have 240V here and 2 outlets for it...One feeds the electric stove/oven, the other is in the garage for a welder. We'd have 3 if our clothes dryer were electric instead of gas.
The well pump, and central Aircon use 240V too, but are hardwired to the breaker panel (as is codified).
The US had pockets of 50Hz in California and other places for a while. We also had 25Hz (it was the first AC IIRC) in places in range of the Niagara Falls power plant (the NYC subway system STILL runs on 25Hz because of that), and a few other pockets of the country until things began to unify here post WWII. And that's not to mention DC power which was still fairly common Pre-WWII. (It existed in 110V for towns with a town generator, and 6,12 and 32V for off grid farms.)
I'm glad we don't have 50Hz...I can often see 60Hz flicker, at 50Hz the strobing in lighting and TV would would probably be constant and drive me nuts.
IIRC a number of European countries drive on the American side of the road. Japan is the only non-British empire country I can think of that drives on the wrong side of the road.
Just remember, if it weren't for my grandparents/great-grandparents you'd be speaking German right now...
@@tomcarlson3913 Your opinion (and attitude showing up here) on the issue is of no relevance since you have never had to make decisions that will affect millions of people.
Even for a consumer reason, modern electronics that came up with AC/DC converters solve the problem anyway. East Japan's population is 70 million, and it is of little benefit to unify the frequency.
@@wjameszzz186 Attitude? I was merely stating facts from an engineering perspective. I'm an Electrical Engineer and the small percent of electrical knowledge I have forgotten over the years accounts for 100X more (in depth) information on the subject than you will ever bother to learn, and my work has touched more lives than you can fathom. You aren't paying me enough to waste my time arguing with you so if you want an argument go troll the comments on a video-game video where the commenters are just as juvenile and shallow as your response and aren't busy with other matters.
@@tomcarlson3913 I'm sure you're knowledge enough to justify spending billions of dollars on unifying the power grid for virtually no benefit to Japanese consumers. I was recently in the 50 Hz area you're talking about and I and neither most Japanese will notice the difference between two electrical frequencies. Unless of course you're walking a heavy industry, but do they complain?
Also you're the epitome of juvenile lmao.
actually these days it is actually more efficient to use ultra high voltage dc to send power long distances . it avoids all the problems associated with long distance ac such as reactance and the skin effect.you can run more amps at the same size wire with dc vs ac.
so japan can solve the problem by building an ultra high voltage dc link between the 2 systems. they would need a rectifier and converter on each end . it wouldn't be cheap but it would solve all the frequency and timing issues.
Don't know what I expected. Converted the Wingdings text at 0:45 to get the word "COMPLICATED".
Now that's just way too COMPLICATED
4:53
WESTERN electricity couldn't be easily transferred to the the east.
Nope
@@kekerosberg1654 The tsunami didn’t occur in western Japan.
Do you even know the directions
Exactly. Fukushima is located in the east.
@@creativedesignation7880 now though Britain perspective
"The Great Hertz Devide"
⠀
sounds like a so badass huge fantasy conflict
No, it's clearly the name of a sci-fi novel.
Sounds like a German mountain range
Using a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system with rectifiers and inverters on both sides of Japan's East and West grids is indeed a feasible solution for interconnection. It allows for efficient long-distance transmission of electricity, overcoming the limitations of traditional alternating current (AC) systems, such as power losses over long distances. The rectifiers convert AC to DC for transmission, and the inverters convert DC back to AC at the receiving end, adjusting for frequency differences between the grids. This approach could help balance electricity supply and demand between the two regions, enhancing grid reliability and stability.
Sam: “Just look at Europe”
Me noticing that the UK (and Ireland) are on their own grids... “So you played a long game to get Brexit, didn’t you.”
Which is funny because the UK can get electricity from France so there must be some compatibility
@@Kanbei11 There are high-voltage DC links between the UK and France (and Belgium and Holland), with inverters/rectifiers on both sides. Versus a single synchronised grid, you're more limited by the capacity on these links (as you can't just route around links already at capacity), hence the Japanese issues.
The UK never fully commited to the EU in the first place, hence the continued use of the pound. They essentially always had some of the special treatment they wanted to achieve with the Brexit.
@@creativedesignation7880 right, though Denmark and Sweden have no interest in the Euro, but I don't see them trying to leave the EU anytime soon.
Fun fact: 40 years ago Europe was a mix of grids that provided household electricity at 220v and 240v. To improve efficiency they converged on a 230 volt compromise.
Everywhere in Europe except the UK which remained at 240v despite in theory agreeing to 230v.
And this is why some lightbulbs (e.g. specialised halogen lights) are more expensive in the UK, because even if most appliances work fine at both 230 and 240 volt, some must be calibrated to the exact voltage or be less efficient if run at the wrong voltage.
Here's the debate: Is japan north-south, or west-east?
It's pretty much north-south, but at the very point where you'd traditionally separate the two, Honshu happens to run more or less east-west, so you have to draw a vertical line on a map to separate the north from the south. Weird indeed, but maps often are.
Usually people here use east vs west.
As a person who used to live on the border, it’s East-West
You can call it whatever you want but officially east-west.東日本-西日本
I lived in Japan for 10 years and it's definitely East-West
Damn 😂 when he showed Alexa while saying “quote unquote girlfriend” I nearly spit my drink out!!!
Did you predict the Texas blackout?! 😂