Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 17 December 2020

On Thursday 17 December, demand averaged 36.4 GW. Renewables supplied 39%.

36.4GW AVERAGEWind13.13 GW36%Hydro0.84 GW2%Biomass2.23 GW6%Solar0.60 GW2%Gas11.59 GW31%Coal0.73 GW2%Imports1.71 GW5%Nuclear6.10 GW17%36.4GW AVERAGE36%31%17%
Price
£51.82/MWh
Day average £51.82
Demand36.4GW
Generation 35.2Transfers 1.2
Fossil fuels31%
Renewables39%
Other27%
Carbon intensityModerate
160g/kWh
0Day average 160300
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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 17 December 2020, wind supplied 36% of Great Britain’s electricity and gas 31%. Demand peaked at 46.0 GW at 17:30. Carbon intensity averaged 160 g/kWh and the price £51.82/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 17.1 GW at 20:35. Solar generation peaked at 3.7 GW at 11:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 23:00 (61 g/kWh) and highest at 12:30 (210 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £0.25/MWh at 23:30 to £67.59/MWh at 17:00. Wind made 37% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 27% across 2020.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 0.601.6%Wind 13.1335.5%Gas 11.5931.4%Hydro 0.842.3%Biomass 2.236.0%Nuclear 6.1016.5%Coal 0.732.0%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 36.4avgGeneration 35.2avgTransfers 1.2avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand46.0GW · 17:30
Low 25.6 · 04:00Avg 36.40–60 GW
Made in Great Britain97%of demand
Generation 35.2Transfers 1.2 GW
Net imports29GWh
In
35 Out
6
Zero-carbon share59%of generation
Nuclear 17%Hydro 2%Wind 37%Solar 2%

Transfers · Thu 17 Dec

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 17 December 2020, Great Britain imported 35 GWh and exported 6 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from Belgium (19 GWh), and the most exports went to France (5 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 17 Dec
Imported
35GWh
Exported
6GWh
Net in
29GWh
Average net flow
1.23GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.78GWImporting

In 18.7 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average0.25GWImporting

In 11.0 GWhOut 5.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.20GWImporting

In 5.8 GWhOut 1.0 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 5.7 GWhPumped 6.6 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.