Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Saturday 16 May 2020

On Saturday 16 May, demand averaged 25.4 GW. Renewables supplied 33%.

25.4GW AVERAGEWind5.91 GW23%Hydro0.24 GW1%Biomass2.29 GW9%Solar2.27 GW9%Gas6.02 GW24%Imports3.08 GW12%Nuclear5.77 GW23%25.4GW AVERAGE23%9%9%24%12%23%
Price
£21.26/MWh
Day average £21.26
Demand25.4GW
Generation 22.5Transfers 2.9
Fossil fuels24%
Renewables33%
Other44%
Carbon intensityLow
128g/kWh
0Day average 128300
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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 16 May 2020, gas supplied 24% of Great Britain’s electricity and wind 23%. Demand peaked at 30.4 GW at 17:25. Carbon intensity averaged 128 g/kWh and the price £21.26/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 7.4 GW at 13:45. Solar generation peaked at 6.1 GW at 10:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 10:30 (99 g/kWh) and highest at 21:00 (176 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £9.58/MWh at 15:00 to £35.24/MWh at 21:00. Gas made 27% 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 2.278.9%Wind 5.9123.1%Gas 6.0223.5%Hydro 0.241.0%Biomass 2.299.0%Nuclear 5.7722.6%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 25.4avgGeneration 22.5avgTransfers 2.9avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand30.4GW · 17:25
Low 19.3 · 05:25Avg 25.40–40 GW
Made in Great Britain89%of demand
Generation 22.5Transfers 2.9 GW
Net imports70GWh
In
72 Out
1
Zero-carbon share63%of generation
Nuclear 26%Hydro 1%Wind 26%Solar 10%

Transfers · Sat 16 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Saturday 16 May 2020, Great Britain imported 72 GWh and exported 1 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (33 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (1 GWh).

All interconnectors

Sat 16 May
Imported
72GWh
Exported
1GWh
Net in
70GWh
Average net flow
2.92GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.69GWImporting

In 16.7 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.36GWImporting

In 32.6 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.14GWImporting

In 4.8 GWhOut 1.4 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.73GWImporting

In 17.6 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.00GWIdle

Generated 2.4 GWhPumped 2.5 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.