Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Wednesday 6 January 2021

On Wednesday 6 January, demand averaged 38.6 GW. Renewables supplied 15%.

38.6GW AVERAGEWind5.12 GW13%Hydro0.55 GW1%Biomass2.32 GW6%Solar0.39 GW1%Gas19.05 GW49%Coal2.85 GW7%Imports3.06 GW8%Nuclear5.88 GW15%38.6GW AVERAGE13%49%7%8%15%
Price
£87.41/MWh
Day average £87.41
Demand38.6GW
Generation 36.2Transfers 2.4
Fossil fuels49%
Renewables15%
Other29%
Carbon intensityHigh
265g/kWh
0Day average 265300
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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 Wednesday 6 January 2021, gas supplied 49% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 15%. Demand peaked at 46.8 GW at 17:20. Carbon intensity averaged 265 g/kWh and the price £87.41/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 7.1 GW at 00:55. Solar generation peaked at 2.4 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 02:00 (179 g/kWh) and highest at 19:30 (300 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £31.43/MWh at 02:00 to £218.43/MWh at 17:30. Gas made 53% 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 0.391.0%Wind 5.1213.1%Gas 19.0548.6%Hydro 0.551.4%Biomass 2.325.9%Nuclear 5.8815.0%Coal 2.857.3%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 38.6avgGeneration 36.2avgTransfers 2.4avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand46.8GW · 17:20
Low 28.0 · 04:00Avg 38.60–60 GW
Made in Great Britain94%of demand
Generation 36.2Transfers 2.4 GW
Net imports58GWh
In
61 Out
3
Zero-carbon share33%of generation
Nuclear 16%Hydro 2%Wind 14%Solar 1%

Transfers · Wed 6 Jan

Interconnectors and storage

On Wednesday 6 January 2021, Great Britain imported 61 GWh and exported 3 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (41 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (3 GWh).

All interconnectors

Wed 6 Jan
Imported
61GWh
Exported
3GWh
Net in
58GWh
Average net flow
2.43GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.80GWImporting

In 19.3 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.72GWImporting

In 41.3 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.09GWExporting

In 0.4 GWhOut 2.6 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

Average0.00GWIdle

Generated 12.5 GWhPumped 12.4 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.