Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Sunday 16 May 2021

On Sunday 16 May, demand averaged 28.2 GW. Renewables supplied 17%.

28.2GW AVERAGEWind2.44 GW8%Hydro0.27 GW1%Biomass2.06 GW7%Solar2.09 GW7%Gas13.82 GW48%Coal0.26 GW1%Imports3.97 GW14%Nuclear4.02 GW14%28.2GW AVERAGE8%7%7%48%14%14%
Price
£82.74/MWh
Day average £82.74
Demand28.2GW
Generation 25.0Transfers 3.3
Fossil fuels48%
Renewables17%
Other35%
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 Sunday 16 May 2021, gas supplied 48% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 14%. Demand peaked at 34.5 GW at 17:25. Carbon intensity averaged 210 g/kWh and the price £82.74/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 3.4 GW at 19:25. Solar generation peaked at 6.4 GW at 11:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 12:30 (195 g/kWh) and highest at 21:00 (234 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £55.56/MWh at 09:00 to £105.69/MWh at 19:00. Gas made 55% 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 2.097.2%Wind 2.448.5%Gas 13.8247.8%Hydro 0.270.9%Biomass 2.067.1%Nuclear 4.0213.9%Coal 0.260.9%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 28.2avgGeneration 25.0avgTransfers 3.3avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand34.5GW · 17:25
Low 20.5 · 05:25Avg 28.20–40 GW
Made in Great Britain88%of demand
Generation 25.0Transfers 3.3 GW
Net imports79GWh
In
92 Out
13
Zero-carbon share35%of generation
Nuclear 16%Hydro 1%Wind 10%Solar 8%

Transfers · Sun 16 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Sunday 16 May 2021, Great Britain imported 92 GWh and exported 13 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (69 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (13 GWh).

All interconnectors

Sun 16 May
Imported
92GWh
Exported
13GWh
Net in
79GWh
Average net flow
3.28GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.96GWImporting

In 23.1 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average2.87GWImporting

In 68.9 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.55GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 13.3 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

Average0.03GWPumping

Generated 3.3 GWhPumped 4.0 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.