Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 31 December 2020

On Thursday 31 December, demand averaged 34.8 GW. Renewables supplied 16%.

34.8GW AVERAGEWind4.78 GW14%Hydro0.47 GW1%Biomass3.10 GW9%Solar0.47 GW1%Gas15.78 GW45%Coal0.78 GW2%Imports3.80 GW11%Nuclear5.96 GW17%34.8GW AVERAGE14%9%45%11%17%
Price
£63.34/MWh
Day average £63.34
Demand34.8GW
Generation 31.4Transfers 3.4
Fossil fuels45%
Renewables16%
Other37%
Carbon intensityHigh
224g/kWh
0Day average 224300
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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 31 December 2020, gas supplied 45% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 17%. Demand peaked at 43.9 GW at 17:05. Carbon intensity averaged 224 g/kWh and the price £63.34/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 6.1 GW at 22:45. Solar generation peaked at 2.6 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 03:00 (178 g/kWh) and highest at 16:00 (261 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £49.67/MWh at 04:30 to £86.48/MWh at 16:30. Gas made 50% 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 0.471.3%Wind 4.7813.6%Gas 15.7844.9%Hydro 0.471.3%Biomass 3.108.8%Nuclear 5.9616.9%Coal 0.782.2%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 34.8avgGeneration 31.4avgTransfers 3.4avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand43.9GW · 17:05
Low 25.7 · 04:45Avg 34.80–60 GW
Made in Great Britain90%of demand
Generation 31.4Transfers 3.4 GW
Net imports88GWh
In
88 Out
0
Zero-carbon share37%of generation
Nuclear 19%Hydro 2%Wind 15%Solar 2%

Transfers · Thu 31 Dec

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 31 December 2020, Great Britain imported 88 GWh and exported 0 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (48 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 31 Dec
Imported
88GWh
Exported
0GWh
Net in
88GWh
Average net flow
3.67GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.99GWImporting

In 23.7 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average2.00GWImporting

In 47.9 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.69GWImporting

In 16.5 GWhOut 0.0 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

Average0.22GWPumping

Generated 3.2 GWhPumped 8.5 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.