Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 21 January 2021

On Thursday 21 January, demand averaged 37.2 GW. Renewables supplied 44%.

37.2GW AVERAGEWind15.51 GW41%Hydro0.45 GW1%Biomass2.49 GW7%Solar0.58 GW2%Gas10.18 GW27%Coal0.59 GW2%Imports2.83 GW7%Nuclear5.23 GW14%37.2GW AVERAGE41%27%7%14%
Price
£60.50/MWh
Day average £60.50
Demand37.2GW
Generation 35.0Transfers 2.1
Fossil fuels27%
Renewables44%
Other28%
Carbon intensityLow
142g/kWh
0Day average 142300
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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 21 January 2021, wind supplied 41% of Great Britain’s electricity and gas 27%. Demand peaked at 46.1 GW at 17:25. Carbon intensity averaged 142 g/kWh and the price £60.50/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 17.9 GW at 11:10. Solar generation peaked at 3.2 GW at 11:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 04:30 (85 g/kWh) and highest at 18:30 (213 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £27.73/MWh at 04:30 to £83.57/MWh at 18:00. Wind made 44% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 25% across 2021.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 0.581.5%Wind 15.5141.0%Gas 10.1826.9%Hydro 0.451.2%Biomass 2.496.6%Nuclear 5.2313.8%Coal 0.591.6%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 37.2avgGeneration 35.0avgTransfers 2.1avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand46.1GW · 17:25
Low 26.8 · 04:55Avg 37.20–60 GW
Made in Great Britain94%of demand
Generation 35.0Transfers 2.1 GW
Net imports55GWh
In
65 Out
10
Zero-carbon share62%of generation
Nuclear 15%Hydro 1%Wind 44%Solar 2%

Transfers · Thu 21 Jan

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 21 January 2021, Great Britain imported 65 GWh and exported 10 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (42 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (10 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 21 Jan
Imported
65GWh
Exported
10GWh
Net in
55GWh
Average net flow
2.29GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.90GWImporting

In 21.6 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.77GWImporting

In 42.4 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.38GWExporting

In 0.5 GWhOut 9.7 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

Average0.14GWPumping

Generated 3.4 GWhPumped 6.8 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.