Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Sunday 2 May 2021

On Sunday 2 May, demand averaged 28.1 GW. Renewables supplied 14%.

28.1GW AVERAGEWind1.38 GW5%Hydro0.25 GW1%Biomass2.19 GW8%Solar2.31 GW8%Gas15.38 GW53%Coal0.13 GW0%Imports3.13 GW11%Nuclear4.37 GW15%28.1GW AVERAGE8%8%53%11%15%
Price
£82.50/MWh
Day average £82.50
Demand28.1GW
Generation 26.0Transfers 2.1
Fossil fuels53%
Renewables14%
Other33%
Carbon intensityHigh
228g/kWh
0Day average 228300
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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 Sunday 2 May 2021, gas supplied 53% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 15%. Demand peaked at 32.7 GW at 17:25. Carbon intensity averaged 228 g/kWh and the price £82.50/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 2.5 GW at 23:55. Solar generation peaked at 6.6 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 12:30 (196 g/kWh) and highest at 20:00 (259 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £65.11/MWh at 23:30 to £109.83/MWh at 20:00. Gas made 59% 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 2.317.9%Wind 1.384.7%Gas 15.3852.8%Hydro 0.250.9%Biomass 2.197.5%Nuclear 4.3715.0%Coal 0.130.5%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 28.1avgGeneration 26.0avgTransfers 2.1avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand32.7GW · 17:25
Low 22.2 · 05:50Avg 28.10–40 GW
Made in Great Britain93%of demand
Generation 26.0Transfers 2.1 GW
Net imports49GWh
In
71 Out
22
Zero-carbon share32%of generation
Nuclear 17%Hydro 1%Wind 5%Solar 9%

Transfers · Sun 2 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Sunday 2 May 2021, Great Britain imported 71 GWh and exported 22 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (47 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (22 GWh).

All interconnectors

Sun 2 May
Imported
71GWh
Exported
22GWh
Net in
49GWh
Average net flow
2.03GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.98GWImporting

In 23.6 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.96GWImporting

In 47.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.92GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 22.0 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

Average0.04GWGenerating

Generated 4.3 GWhPumped 3.4 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.