Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 3 May 2018

On Thursday 3 May, demand averaged 33.7 GW. Renewables supplied 23%.

33.7GW AVERAGEWind5.30 GW15%Hydro0.38 GW1%Biomass1.92 GW6%Solar2.26 GW7%Gas13.64 GW40%Coal0.83 GW2%Imports2.70 GW8%Nuclear7.25 GW21%33.7GW AVERAGE15%40%8%21%
Price
£51.94/MWh
Day average £51.94
Demand33.7GW
Generation 31.6Transfers 2.2
Fossil fuels40%
Renewables23%
Other35%
Carbon intensityModerate
226g/kWh
0Day average 226300
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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 3 May 2018, gas supplied 40% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 21%. Demand peaked at 39.6 GW at 12:25. Carbon intensity averaged 226 g/kWh and the price £51.94/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 7.1 GW at 18:05. Solar generation peaked at 7.0 GW at 11:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 00:30 (185 g/kWh) and highest at 07:00 (280 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £33.78/MWh at 15:30 to £86.79/MWh at 08:00. Gas made 43% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 42% across 2018.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 2.266.6%Wind 5.3015.5%Gas 13.6439.8%Hydro 0.381.1%Biomass 1.925.6%Nuclear 7.2521.2%Coal 0.832.4%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 33.7avgGeneration 31.6avgTransfers 2.2avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand39.6GW · 12:25
Low 24.8 · 00:50Avg 33.70–40 GW
Made in Great Britain94%of demand
Generation 31.6Transfers 2.2 GW
Net imports53GWh
In
58 Out
5
Zero-carbon share48%of generation
Nuclear 23%Hydro 1%Wind 17%Solar 7%

Transfers · Thu 3 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 3 May 2018, Great Britain imported 58 GWh and exported 5 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (35 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (5 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 3 May
Imported
58GWh
Exported
5GWh
Net in
53GWh
Average net flow
2.20GW 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

Average1.46GWImporting

In 35.1 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.15GWExporting

In 1.4 GWhOut 5.1 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.90GWImporting

In 21.5 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.05GWPumping

Generated 6.7 GWhPumped 7.8 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.