Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Saturday 21 December 2019

On Saturday 21 December, demand averaged 33.4 GW. Renewables supplied 27%.

33.4GW AVERAGEWind8.09 GW24%Hydro0.67 GW2%Biomass2.33 GW7%Solar0.38 GW1%Gas11.75 GW34%Coal1.01 GW3%Imports3.79 GW11%Nuclear6.34 GW18%33.4GW AVERAGE24%34%11%18%
Price
£38.35/MWh
Day average £38.35
Demand33.4GW
Generation 30.6Transfers 2.9
Fossil fuels34%
Renewables27%
Other36%
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 Saturday 21 December 2019, gas supplied 34% of Great Britain’s electricity and wind 24%. Demand peaked at 41.2 GW at 17:15. Carbon intensity averaged 210 g/kWh and the price £38.35/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 10.3 GW at 06:10. Solar generation peaked at 2.7 GW at 11:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 05:30 (148 g/kWh) and highest at 20:30 (253 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £28.08/MWh at 06:30 to £52.50/MWh at 17:00. Gas made 38% 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 0.381.1%Wind 8.0923.6%Gas 11.7534.2%Hydro 0.672.0%Biomass 2.336.8%Nuclear 6.3418.5%Coal 1.012.9%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 33.4avgGeneration 30.6avgTransfers 2.9avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand41.2GW · 17:15
Low 25.0 · 04:55Avg 33.40–60 GW
Made in Great Britain91%of demand
Generation 30.6Transfers 2.9 GW
Net imports69GWh
In
86 Out
17
Zero-carbon share51%of generation
Nuclear 21%Hydro 2%Wind 26%Solar 1%

Transfers · Sat 21 Dec

Interconnectors and storage

On Saturday 21 December 2019, Great Britain imported 86 GWh and exported 17 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (43 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (17 GWh).

All interconnectors

Sat 21 Dec
Imported
86GWh
Exported
17GWh
Net in
69GWh
Average net flow
2.88GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.91GWImporting

In 21.8 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.80GWImporting

In 43.2 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.70GWExporting

In 0.1 GWhOut 16.9 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.88GWImporting

In 21.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.02GWPumping

Generated 4.9 GWhPumped 5.3 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.