Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Wednesday 16 May 2018

On Wednesday 16 May, demand averaged 31.8 GW. Renewables supplied 25%.

31.8GW AVERAGEWind6.53 GW20%Hydro0.22 GW1%Biomass1.98 GW6%Solar1.52 GW5%Gas12.74 GW39%Coal0.58 GW2%Imports2.27 GW7%Nuclear6.71 GW21%31.8GW AVERAGE20%39%21%
Price
£49.60/MWh
Day average £49.60
Demand31.8GW
Generation 30.3Transfers 1.5
Fossil fuels39%
Renewables25%
Other34%
Carbon intensityModerate
203g/kWh
0Day average 203300
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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 Wednesday 16 May 2018, gas supplied 39% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 21%. Demand peaked at 38.1 GW at 16:55. Carbon intensity averaged 203 g/kWh and the price £49.60/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 7.7 GW at 05:00. Solar generation peaked at 4.3 GW at 14:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 04:00 (140 g/kWh) and highest at 20:30 (244 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £42.33/MWh at 08:30 to £64.89/MWh at 17:30. Gas made 42% 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 1.524.7%Wind 6.5320.1%Gas 12.7439.1%Hydro 0.220.7%Biomass 1.986.1%Nuclear 6.7120.6%Coal 0.581.8%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 31.8avgGeneration 30.3avgTransfers 1.5avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand38.1GW · 16:55
Low 21.9 · 04:15Avg 31.80–40 GW
Made in Great Britain95%of demand
Generation 30.3Transfers 1.5 GW
Net imports38GWh
In
49 Out
11
Zero-carbon share49%of generation
Nuclear 22%Hydro 1%Wind 22%Solar 5%

Transfers · Wed 16 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Wednesday 16 May 2018, Great Britain imported 49 GWh and exported 11 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (44 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (11 GWh).

All interconnectors

Wed 16 May
Imported
49GWh
Exported
11GWh
Net in
38GWh
Average net flow
1.58GW 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

Average1.83GWImporting

In 43.9 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.29GWExporting

In 3.7 GWhOut 10.6 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.04GWImporting

In 1.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.07GWPumping

Generated 5.9 GWhPumped 7.6 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.