Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Wednesday 12 May 2021

On Wednesday 12 May, demand averaged 31.1 GW. Renewables supplied 19%.

31.1GW AVERAGEWind3.60 GW11%Hydro0.36 GW1%Biomass2.32 GW7%Solar2.28 GW7%Gas14.84 GW46%Coal0.65 GW2%Imports3.97 GW12%Nuclear4.25 GW13%31.1GW AVERAGE11%7%7%46%12%13%
Price
£82.17/MWh
Day average £82.17
Demand31.1GW
Generation 28.3Transfers 2.8
Fossil fuels46%
Renewables19%
Other33%
Carbon intensityModerate
212g/kWh
0Day average 212300
Save as image
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 12 May 2021, gas supplied 46% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 13%. Demand peaked at 37.4 GW at 12:20. Carbon intensity averaged 212 g/kWh and the price £82.17/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 5.8 GW at 03:35. Solar generation peaked at 6.6 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 03:30 (166 g/kWh) and highest at 20:30 (253 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £55.06/MWh at 04:30 to £104.07/MWh at 16:30. 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 2.287.1%Wind 3.6011.1%Gas 14.8446.0%Hydro 0.361.1%Biomass 2.327.2%Nuclear 4.2513.2%Coal 0.652.0%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 31.1avgGeneration 28.3avgTransfers 2.8avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand37.4GW · 12:20
Low 22.8 · 04:05Avg 31.10–40 GW
Made in Great Britain91%of demand
Generation 28.3Transfers 2.8 GW
Net imports67GWh
In
90 Out
23
Zero-carbon share37%of generation
Nuclear 15%Hydro 1%Wind 13%Solar 8%

Transfers · Wed 12 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Wednesday 12 May 2021, Great Britain imported 90 GWh and exported 23 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (68 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (23 GWh).

All interconnectors

Wed 12 May
Imported
90GWh
Exported
23GWh
Net in
67GWh
Average net flow
2.77GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.92GWImporting

In 22.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average2.82GWImporting

In 67.7 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.97GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 23.3 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.1 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.07GWGenerating

Generated 5.5 GWhPumped 3.8 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.