Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 17 May 2018

On Thursday 17 May, demand averaged 31.8 GW. Renewables supplied 20%.

31.8GW AVERAGEWind3.35 GW10%Hydro0.21 GW1%Biomass1.91 GW6%Solar3.01 GW9%Gas14.16 GW43%Coal0.42 GW1%Imports3.13 GW10%Nuclear6.41 GW20%31.8GW AVERAGE10%9%43%10%20%
Price
£51.12/MWh
Day average £51.12
Demand31.8GW
Generation 29.5Transfers 2.3
Fossil fuels43%
Renewables20%
Other35%
Carbon intensityModerate
233g/kWh
0Day average 233300
Save as image
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 17 May 2018, gas supplied 43% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 20%. Demand peaked at 37.8 GW at 12:15. Carbon intensity averaged 233 g/kWh and the price £51.12/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 4.8 GW at 00:00. Solar generation peaked at 8.7 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 00:30 (200 g/kWh) and highest at 21:00 (289 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £42.37/MWh at 01:30 to £60.33/MWh at 23:30. Gas made 48% 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 3.019.2%Wind 3.3510.3%Gas 14.1643.4%Hydro 0.210.6%Biomass 1.915.9%Nuclear 6.4119.7%Coal 0.421.3%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 31.8avgGeneration 29.5avgTransfers 2.3avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand37.8GW · 12:15
Low 22.5 · 04:10Avg 31.80–40 GW
Made in Great Britain93%of demand
Generation 29.5Transfers 2.3 GW
Net imports58GWh
In
69 Out
11
Zero-carbon share44%of generation
Nuclear 22%Hydro 1%Wind 11%Solar 10%

Transfers · Thu 17 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 17 May 2018, Great Britain imported 69 GWh and exported 11 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (45 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (11 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 17 May
Imported
69GWh
Exported
11GWh
Net in
58GWh
Average net flow
2.41GW 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

Average1.89GWImporting

In 45.3 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.30GWExporting

In 3.8 GWhOut 11.0 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.82GWImporting

In 19.7 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 6.3 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.