Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Saturday 12 December 2020

On Saturday 12 December, demand averaged 33.5 GW. Renewables supplied 16%.

33.5GW AVERAGEWind4.53 GW13%Hydro0.60 GW2%Biomass2.68 GW8%Solar0.33 GW1%Gas15.71 GW46%Coal0.58 GW2%Imports3.14 GW9%Nuclear6.49 GW19%33.5GW AVERAGE13%8%46%9%19%
Price
£52.75/MWh
Day average £52.75
Demand33.5GW
Generation 30.9Transfers 2.6
Fossil fuels46%
Renewables16%
Other36%
Carbon intensityModerate
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 Saturday 12 December 2020, gas supplied 46% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 19%. Demand peaked at 41.9 GW at 17:30. Carbon intensity averaged 218 g/kWh and the price £52.75/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 5.9 GW at 09:35. Solar generation peaked at 1.9 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 05:00 (164 g/kWh) and highest at 18:30 (268 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £42.69/MWh at 23:00 to £66.93/MWh at 17:00. Gas made 51% 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 0.331.0%Wind 4.5313.3%Gas 15.7146.1%Hydro 0.601.8%Biomass 2.687.9%Nuclear 6.4919.1%Coal 0.581.7%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 33.5avgGeneration 30.9avgTransfers 2.6avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand41.9GW · 17:30
Low 24.3 · 04:15Avg 33.50–60 GW
Made in Great Britain92%of demand
Generation 30.9Transfers 2.6 GW
Net imports63GWh
In
72 Out
9
Zero-carbon share39%of generation
Nuclear 21%Hydro 2%Wind 15%Solar 1%

Transfers · Sat 12 Dec

Interconnectors and storage

On Saturday 12 December 2020, Great Britain imported 72 GWh and exported 9 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (47 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (9 GWh).

All interconnectors

Sat 12 Dec
Imported
72GWh
Exported
9GWh
Net in
63GWh
Average net flow
2.62GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.90GWImporting

In 21.7 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.96GWImporting

In 47.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.24GWExporting

In 3.5 GWhOut 9.2 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.04GWPumping

Generated 3.1 GWhPumped 4.0 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.