Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 6 May 2021

On Thursday 6 May, demand averaged 33.1 GW. Renewables supplied 22%.

33.1GW AVERAGEWind4.98 GW15%Hydro0.26 GW1%Biomass2.61 GW8%Solar2.40 GW7%Gas16.49 GW48%Coal0.35 GW1%Imports2.82 GW8%Nuclear4.33 GW13%33.1GW AVERAGE15%8%7%48%8%13%
Price
£77.63/MWh
Day average £77.63
Demand33.1GW
Generation 31.4Transfers 1.7
Fossil fuels48%
Renewables22%
Other29%
Carbon intensityModerate
214g/kWh
0Day average 214300
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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 6 May 2021, gas supplied 48% of Great Britain’s electricity and wind 15%. Demand peaked at 40.0 GW at 12:35. Carbon intensity averaged 214 g/kWh and the price £77.63/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 7.2 GW at 16:30. Solar generation peaked at 7.3 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 13:30 (184 g/kWh) and highest at 06:30 (245 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £52.31/MWh at 02:00 to £118.09/MWh at 08:00. Gas made 52% 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 2.407.0%Wind 4.9814.5%Gas 16.4948.2%Hydro 0.260.8%Biomass 2.617.6%Nuclear 4.3312.6%Coal 0.351.0%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 33.1avgGeneration 31.4avgTransfers 1.7avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand40.0GW · 12:35
Low 24.8 · 04:40Avg 33.10–40 GW
Made in Great Britain95%of demand
Generation 31.4Transfers 1.7 GW
Net imports45GWh
In
64 Out
19
Zero-carbon share38%of generation
Nuclear 14%Hydro 1%Wind 16%Solar 8%

Transfers · Thu 6 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 6 May 2021, Great Britain imported 64 GWh and exported 19 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (42 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (19 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 6 May
Imported
64GWh
Exported
19GWh
Net in
45GWh
Average net flow
1.87GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.89GWImporting

In 21.4 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

Average0.79GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 18.9 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

Average0.18GWPumping

Generated 3.9 GWhPumped 8.2 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.