Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Saturday 2 January 2021

On Saturday 2 January, demand averaged 33.2 GW. Renewables supplied 17%.

33.2GW AVERAGEWind4.92 GW15%Hydro0.41 GW1%Biomass2.46 GW7%Solar0.40 GW1%Gas15.38 GW46%Coal0.85 GW3%Imports3.13 GW9%Nuclear5.93 GW18%33.2GW AVERAGE15%7%46%9%18%
Price
£59.34/MWh
Day average £59.34
Demand33.2GW
Generation 30.3Transfers 2.9
Fossil fuels46%
Renewables17%
Other34%
Carbon intensityHigh
222g/kWh
0Day average 222300
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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 2 January 2021, gas supplied 46% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 18%. Demand peaked at 43.2 GW at 17:30. Carbon intensity averaged 222 g/kWh and the price £59.34/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 6.3 GW at 22:55. Solar generation peaked at 2.4 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 05:00 (171 g/kWh) and highest at 15:00 (276 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £42.19/MWh at 07:00 to £103.78/MWh at 17:30. Gas made 51% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 42% across 2021.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 0.401.2%Wind 4.9214.7%Gas 15.3845.9%Hydro 0.411.2%Biomass 2.467.3%Nuclear 5.9317.7%Coal 0.852.6%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 33.2avgGeneration 30.3avgTransfers 2.9avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand43.2GW · 17:30
Low 24.2 · 04:45Avg 33.20–60 GW
Made in Great Britain91%of demand
Generation 30.3Transfers 2.9 GW
Net imports70GWh
In
71 Out
1
Zero-carbon share38%of generation
Nuclear 20%Hydro 1%Wind 16%Solar 1%

Transfers · Sat 2 Jan

Interconnectors and storage

On Saturday 2 January 2021, Great Britain imported 71 GWh and exported 1 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (47 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (1 GWh).

All interconnectors

Sat 2 Jan
Imported
71GWh
Exported
1GWh
Net in
70GWh
Average net flow
2.90GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.96GWImporting

In 23.1 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.98GWImporting

In 47.5 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.04GWExporting

In 0.6 GWhOut 1.4 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

Average0.02GWPumping

Generated 4.1 GWhPumped 4.6 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.