Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 21 December 2017

On Thursday 21 December, demand averaged 37.8 GW. Renewables supplied 9%.

37.8GW AVERAGEWind2.62 GW7%Hydro0.72 GW2%Biomass1.54 GW4%Solar0.12 GW0%Gas19.53 GW50%Coal5.43 GW14%Imports2.23 GW6%Nuclear6.99 GW18%37.8GW AVERAGE50%14%18%
Price
£56.10/MWh
Day average £56.10
Demand37.8GW
Generation 37.0Transfers 0.8
Fossil fuels50%
Renewables9%
Other27%
Carbon intensityVery high
391g/kWh
0Day average 391300
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Recorded half-hourRecorded half-hourRecorded half-hourRecorded half-hourRecorded half-hourRecorded half-hourRecorded half-hourRecorded half-hourRecorded half-hourRecorded half-hourRecorded half-hour

Key moments

On Thursday 21 December 2017, gas supplied 50% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 18%. Demand peaked at 46.4 GW at 17:20. Carbon intensity averaged 391 g/kWh and the price £56.10/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 3.7 GW at 12:45. Solar generation peaked at 0.7 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 23:30 (295 g/kWh) and highest at 07:30 (438 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £42.13/MWh at 23:30 to £67.19/MWh at 16:30. Gas made 53% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 43% across 2017.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 0.120.3%Wind 2.626.7%Gas 19.5349.8%Hydro 0.721.8%Biomass 1.543.9%Nuclear 6.9917.8%Coal 5.4313.9%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 37.8avgGeneration 37.0avgTransfers 0.8avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand46.4GW · 17:20
Low 26.8 · 04:25Avg 37.80–60 GW
Made in Great Britain98%of demand
Generation 37.0Transfers 0.8 GW
Net imports22GWh
In
46 Out
24
Zero-carbon share28%of generation
Nuclear 19%Hydro 2%Wind 7%Solar 0%

Transfers · Thu 21 Dec

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 21 December 2017, Great Britain imported 46 GWh and exported 24 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from Netherlands (23 GWh), and the most exports went to France (14 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 21 Dec
Imported
46GWh
Exported
24GWh
Net in
22GWh
Average net flow
0.90GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average0.14GWImporting

In 17.6 GWhOut 14.3 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.19GWExporting

In 5.6 GWhOut 10.1 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.95GWImporting

In 22.8 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.06GWPumping

Generated 7.5 GWhPumped 8.9 GWh

All cards share one scale, so you can compare their heights. Each country can have more than one cable.

Download the 5-minute data for this day: CSV · JSON. See what the figures mean.