Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Tuesday 21 May 2019

On Tuesday 21 May, demand averaged 31.1 GW. Renewables supplied 18%.

31.1GW AVERAGEWind2.69 GW8%Hydro0.11 GW0%Biomass2.28 GW7%Solar2.94 GW9%Gas15.43 GW48%Imports3.02 GW9%Nuclear5.55 GW17%31.1GW AVERAGE8%7%9%48%9%17%
Price
£41.98/MWh
Day average £41.98
Demand31.1GW
Generation 29.0Transfers 2.1
Fossil fuels48%
Renewables18%
Other34%
Carbon intensityModerate
239g/kWh
0Day average 239300
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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 Tuesday 21 May 2019, gas supplied 48% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 17%. Demand peaked at 37.1 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity averaged 239 g/kWh and the price £41.98/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 3.9 GW at 16:55. Solar generation peaked at 8.2 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 12:30 (212 g/kWh) and highest at 21:00 (277 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £35.92/MWh at 15:00 to £55.21/MWh at 07:30. Gas made 53% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 43% across 2019.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 2.949.2%Wind 2.698.4%Gas 15.4348.2%Hydro 0.110.3%Biomass 2.287.1%Nuclear 5.5517.3%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 31.1avgGeneration 29.0avgTransfers 2.1avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand37.1GW · 12:30
Low 22.0 · 04:45Avg 31.10–40 GW
Made in Great Britain93%of demand
Generation 29.0Transfers 2.1 GW
Net imports52GWh
In
70 Out
18
Zero-carbon share39%of generation
Nuclear 19%Hydro 0%Wind 9%Solar 10%

Transfers · Tue 21 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Tuesday 21 May 2019, Great Britain imported 70 GWh and exported 18 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (42 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (18 GWh).

All interconnectors

Tue 21 May
Imported
70GWh
Exported
18GWh
Net in
52GWh
Average net flow
2.15GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.56GWImporting

In 13.5 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.75GWImporting

In 41.9 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.73GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 17.6 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.57GWImporting

In 14.3 GWhOut 0.7 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.07GWPumping

Generated 2.7 GWhPumped 4.4 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.