Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 18 March 2021

On Thursday 18 March, demand averaged 34.3 GW. Renewables supplied 25%.

34.3GW AVERAGEWind7.38 GW21%Hydro0.50 GW1%Biomass2.72 GW8%Solar0.87 GW2%Gas15.70 GW45%Coal0.31 GW1%Imports2.39 GW7%Nuclear4.97 GW14%34.3GW AVERAGE21%8%45%14%
Price
£55.62/MWh
Day average £55.62
Demand34.3GW
Generation 32.5Transfers 1.8
Fossil fuels45%
Renewables25%
Other29%
Carbon intensityModerate
210g/kWh
0Day average 210300
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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 18 March 2021, gas supplied 45% of Great Britain’s electricity and wind 21%. Demand peaked at 41.4 GW at 19:05. Carbon intensity averaged 210 g/kWh and the price £55.62/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 8.9 GW at 20:50. Solar generation peaked at 3.2 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 23:00 (164 g/kWh) and highest at 16:00 (237 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £35.67/MWh at 04:30 to £84.68/MWh at 18:30. Gas made 48% 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 0.872.5%Wind 7.3821.2%Gas 15.7045.1%Hydro 0.501.4%Biomass 2.727.8%Nuclear 4.9714.3%Coal 0.310.9%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 34.3avgGeneration 32.5avgTransfers 1.8avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand41.4GW · 19:05
Low 25.0 · 04:00Avg 34.30–60 GW
Made in Great Britain95%of demand
Generation 32.5Transfers 1.8 GW
Net imports47GWh
In
55 Out
7
Zero-carbon share42%of generation
Nuclear 15%Hydro 2%Wind 23%Solar 3%

Transfers · Thu 18 Mar

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 18 March 2021, Great Britain imported 55 GWh and exported 7 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (35 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (5 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 18 Mar
Imported
55GWh
Exported
7GWh
Net in
47GWh
Average net flow
1.98GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.77GWImporting

In 18.4 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.41GWImporting

In 35.4 GWhOut 1.7 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.19GWExporting

In 0.8 GWhOut 5.4 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

Average0.15GWPumping

Generated 2.9 GWhPumped 6.5 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.