Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Tuesday 5 January 2021

On Tuesday 5 January, demand averaged 38.3 GW. Renewables supplied 26%.

38.3GW AVERAGEWind9.23 GW24%Hydro0.39 GW1%Biomass1.96 GW5%Solar0.44 GW1%Gas16.82 GW43%Coal1.91 GW5%Imports2.43 GW6%Nuclear5.89 GW15%38.3GW AVERAGE24%43%15%
Price
£66.16/MWh
Day average £66.16
Demand38.3GW
Generation 36.6Transfers 1.7
Fossil fuels43%
Renewables26%
Other26%
Carbon intensityHigh
226g/kWh
0Day average 226300
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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 Tuesday 5 January 2021, gas supplied 43% of Great Britain’s electricity and wind 24%. Demand peaked at 46.6 GW at 16:55. Carbon intensity averaged 226 g/kWh and the price £66.16/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 10.7 GW at 06:45. Solar generation peaked at 2.7 GW at 11:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 03:00 (140 g/kWh) and highest at 19:00 (271 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £47.05/MWh at 00:00 to £95.15/MWh at 17:30. Gas made 46% 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 0.441.1%Wind 9.2323.6%Gas 16.8243.0%Hydro 0.391.0%Biomass 1.965.0%Nuclear 5.8915.1%Coal 1.914.9%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 38.3avgGeneration 36.6avgTransfers 1.7avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand46.6GW · 16:55
Low 27.6 · 04:15Avg 38.30–60 GW
Made in Great Britain96%of demand
Generation 36.6Transfers 1.7 GW
Net imports43GWh
In
52 Out
9
Zero-carbon share44%of generation
Nuclear 16%Hydro 1%Wind 25%Solar 1%

Transfers · Tue 5 Jan

Interconnectors and storage

On Tuesday 5 January 2021, Great Britain imported 52 GWh and exported 9 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (38 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (9 GWh).

All interconnectors

Tue 5 Jan
Imported
52GWh
Exported
9GWh
Net in
43GWh
Average net flow
1.77GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.57GWImporting

In 13.7 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.58GWImporting

In 37.9 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.38GWExporting

In 0.1 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

Average0.09GWPumping

Generated 6.6 GWhPumped 8.6 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.