Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Wednesday 23 May 2018

On Wednesday 23 May, demand averaged 31.0 GW. Renewables supplied 23%.

31.0GW AVERAGEWind4.54 GW14%Hydro0.21 GW1%Biomass2.24 GW7%Solar2.60 GW8%Gas12.30 GW39%Coal0.14 GW0%Imports3.19 GW10%Nuclear6.15 GW20%31.0GW AVERAGE14%7%8%39%10%20%
Price
£56.35/MWh
Day average £56.35
Demand31.0GW
Generation 28.2Transfers 2.8
Fossil fuels39%
Renewables23%
Other37%
Carbon intensityModerate
210g/kWh
0Day average 210300
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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 23 May 2018, gas supplied 39% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 20%. Demand peaked at 37.4 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity averaged 210 g/kWh and the price £56.35/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 5.4 GW at 00:00. Solar generation peaked at 8.4 GW at 13:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 13:30 (175 g/kWh) and highest at 20:30 (247 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £42.13/MWh at 00:30 to £86.59/MWh at 08:00. Gas made 44% 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 2.608.3%Wind 4.5414.5%Gas 12.3039.2%Hydro 0.210.7%Biomass 2.247.1%Nuclear 6.1519.6%Coal 0.140.5%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 31.0avgGeneration 28.2avgTransfers 2.8avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand37.4GW · 12:30
Low 21.4 · 03:50Avg 31.00–40 GW
Made in Great Britain91%of demand
Generation 28.2Transfers 2.8 GW
Net imports69GWh
In
70 Out
1
Zero-carbon share48%of generation
Nuclear 22%Hydro 1%Wind 16%Solar 9%

Transfers · Wed 23 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Wednesday 23 May 2018, Great Britain imported 70 GWh and exported 1 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (45 GWh).

All interconnectors

Wed 23 May
Imported
70GWh
Exported
1GWh
Net in
69GWh
Average net flow
2.90GW 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

Average1.89GWImporting

In 45.3 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.20GWImporting

In 5.6 GWhOut 0.9 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.81GWImporting

In 19.5 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.08GWPumping

Generated 6.2 GWhPumped 8.1 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.