Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Wednesday 18 March 2020

On Wednesday 18 March, demand averaged 35.3 GW. Renewables supplied 28%.

35.3GW AVERAGEWind8.60 GW24%Hydro0.75 GW2%Biomass2.73 GW8%Solar0.63 GW2%Gas14.08 GW39%Coal0.61 GW2%Imports3.97 GW11%Nuclear4.47 GW12%35.3GW AVERAGE24%8%39%11%12%
Price
£32.76/MWh
Day average £32.76
Demand35.3GW
Generation 31.9Transfers 3.4
Fossil fuels39%
Renewables28%
Other31%
Carbon intensityHigh
213g/kWh
0Day average 213300
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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 18 March 2020, gas supplied 39% of Great Britain’s electricity and wind 24%. Demand peaked at 42.2 GW at 18:45. Carbon intensity averaged 213 g/kWh and the price £32.76/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 12.9 GW at 00:05. Solar generation peaked at 2.3 GW at 13:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 03:00 (122 g/kWh) and highest at 20:00 (261 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £19.46/MWh at 07:30 to £52.97/MWh at 18:30. Gas made 44% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 38% across 2020.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 0.631.7%Wind 8.6024.0%Gas 14.0839.3%Hydro 0.752.1%Biomass 2.737.6%Nuclear 4.4712.5%Coal 0.611.7%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 35.3avgGeneration 31.9avgTransfers 3.4avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand42.2GW · 18:45
Low 24.8 · 04:05Avg 35.30–60 GW
Made in Great Britain90%of demand
Generation 31.9Transfers 3.4 GW
Net imports80GWh
In
89 Out
9
Zero-carbon share45%of generation
Nuclear 14%Hydro 2%Wind 27%Solar 2%

Transfers · Wed 18 Mar

Interconnectors and storage

On Wednesday 18 March 2020, Great Britain imported 89 GWh and exported 9 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (44 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (9 GWh).

All interconnectors

Wed 18 Mar
Imported
89GWh
Exported
9GWh
Net in
80GWh
Average net flow
3.34GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.93GWImporting

In 22.3 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.85GWImporting

In 44.5 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.37GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 9.0 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.93GWImporting

In 22.3 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.07GWGenerating

Generated 6.3 GWhPumped 4.7 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.