Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 3 December 2020

On Thursday 3 December, demand averaged 37.6 GW. Renewables supplied 19%.

37.6GW AVERAGEWind6.86 GW18%Hydro0.56 GW1%Biomass2.94 GW8%Solar0.08 GW0%Gas17.17 GW45%Coal1.00 GW3%Imports3.62 GW9%Nuclear6.33 GW16%37.6GW AVERAGE18%8%45%9%16%
Price
£60.10/MWh
Day average £60.10
Demand37.6GW
Generation 34.9Transfers 2.6
Fossil fuels45%
Renewables19%
Other33%
Carbon intensityHigh
218g/kWh
0Day average 218300
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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 Thursday 3 December 2020, gas supplied 45% of Great Britain’s electricity and wind 18%. Demand peaked at 46.1 GW at 17:20. Carbon intensity averaged 218 g/kWh and the price £60.10/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 9.2 GW at 23:55. Solar generation peaked at 0.5 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 23:30 (116 g/kWh) and highest at 07:00 (279 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £18.70/MWh at 00:00 to £142.90/MWh at 16:30. Gas made 49% 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 0.080.2%Wind 6.8617.8%Gas 17.1744.5%Hydro 0.561.5%Biomass 2.947.6%Nuclear 6.3316.4%Coal 1.002.6%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 37.6avgGeneration 34.9avgTransfers 2.6avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand46.1GW · 17:20
Low 25.6 · 04:50Avg 37.60–60 GW
Made in Great Britain93%of demand
Generation 34.9Transfers 2.6 GW
Net imports65GWh
In
79 Out
14
Zero-carbon share40%of generation
Nuclear 18%Hydro 2%Wind 20%Solar 0%

Transfers · Thu 3 Dec

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 3 December 2020, Great Britain imported 79 GWh and exported 14 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (34 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (13 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 3 Dec
Imported
79GWh
Exported
14GWh
Net in
65GWh
Average net flow
2.69GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.83GWImporting

In 20.0 GWhOut 0.2 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.40GWImporting

In 34.5 GWhOut 0.8 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.41GWExporting

In 3.4 GWhOut 13.2 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.87GWImporting

In 20.8 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.07GWPumping

Generated 8.1 GWhPumped 9.7 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.