Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Friday 18 May 2018

On Friday 18 May, demand averaged 31.1 GW. Renewables supplied 13%.

31.1GW AVERAGEWind1.09 GW3%Hydro0.27 GW1%Biomass2.12 GW7%Solar2.76 GW9%Gas16.40 GW52%Coal0.02 GW0%Imports3.22 GW10%Nuclear5.95 GW19%31.1GW AVERAGE9%52%10%19%
Price
£50.46/MWh
Day average £50.46
Demand31.1GW
Generation 28.6Transfers 2.5
Fossil fuels52%
Renewables13%
Other35%
Carbon intensityModerate
262g/kWh
0Day average 262300
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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 Friday 18 May 2018, gas supplied 52% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 19%. Demand peaked at 37.0 GW at 11:00. Carbon intensity averaged 262 g/kWh and the price £50.46/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 1.9 GW at 00:30. Solar generation peaked at 7.9 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 12:30 (228 g/kWh) and highest at 22:00 (298 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £41.90/MWh at 06:00 to £65.40/MWh at 19:00. Gas made 57% 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 2.768.7%Wind 1.093.4%Gas 16.4051.5%Hydro 0.270.9%Biomass 2.126.7%Nuclear 5.9518.7%Coal 0.020.1%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 31.1avgGeneration 28.6avgTransfers 2.5avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand37.0GW · 11:00
Low 22.8 · 04:50Avg 31.10–40 GW
Made in Great Britain92%of demand
Generation 28.6Transfers 2.5 GW
Net imports63GWh
In
72 Out
9
Zero-carbon share35%of generation
Nuclear 21%Hydro 1%Wind 4%Solar 10%

Transfers · Fri 18 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Friday 18 May 2018, Great Britain imported 72 GWh and exported 9 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (47 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (9 GWh).

All interconnectors

Fri 18 May
Imported
72GWh
Exported
9GWh
Net in
63GWh
Average net flow
2.62GW 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

Average1.97GWImporting

In 47.2 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.20GWExporting

In 4.3 GWhOut 9.2 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.85GWImporting

In 20.5 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.09GWPumping

Generated 5.3 GWhPumped 7.5 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.