Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Wednesday 5 May 2021

On Wednesday 5 May, demand averaged 33.3 GW. Renewables supplied 31%.

33.3GW AVERAGEWind7.90 GW23%Hydro0.25 GW1%Biomass2.56 GW8%Solar2.45 GW7%Gas13.40 GW39%Coal0.21 GW1%Imports2.89 GW9%Nuclear4.36 GW13%33.3GW AVERAGE23%8%7%39%9%13%
Price
£80.64/MWh
Day average £80.64
Demand33.3GW
Generation 31.2Transfers 2.1
Fossil fuels39%
Renewables31%
Other29%
Carbon intensityModerate
171g/kWh
0Day average 171300
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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 5 May 2021, gas supplied 39% of Great Britain’s electricity and wind 23%. Demand peaked at 40.0 GW at 12:05. Carbon intensity averaged 171 g/kWh and the price £80.64/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 10.6 GW at 02:25. Solar generation peaked at 7.2 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 04:00 (101 g/kWh) and highest at 21:00 (245 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £45.48/MWh at 23:00 to £112.61/MWh at 21:00. Gas made 43% 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 2.457.2%Wind 7.9023.2%Gas 13.4039.4%Hydro 0.250.7%Biomass 2.567.5%Nuclear 4.3612.8%Coal 0.210.6%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 33.3avgGeneration 31.2avgTransfers 2.1avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand40.0GW · 12:05
Low 24.5 · 03:55Avg 33.30–60 GW
Made in Great Britain94%of demand
Generation 31.2Transfers 2.1 GW
Net imports49GWh
In
65 Out
16
Zero-carbon share48%of generation
Nuclear 14%Hydro 1%Wind 25%Solar 8%

Transfers · Wed 5 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Wednesday 5 May 2021, Great Britain imported 65 GWh and exported 16 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (42 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (16 GWh).

All interconnectors

Wed 5 May
Imported
65GWh
Exported
16GWh
Net in
49GWh
Average net flow
2.02GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.90GWImporting

In 21.5 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.75GWImporting

In 42.1 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.63GWExporting

In 1.1 GWhOut 16.3 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

Average0.11GWGenerating

Generated 4.7 GWhPumped 2.1 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.