Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Tuesday 18 May 2021

On Tuesday 18 May, demand averaged 31.1 GW. Renewables supplied 16%.

31.1GW AVERAGEWind2.32 GW7%Hydro0.31 GW1%Biomass2.72 GW8%Solar2.35 GW7%Gas16.05 GW50%Coal0.55 GW2%Imports3.55 GW11%Nuclear4.27 GW13%31.1GW AVERAGE7%8%7%50%11%13%
Price
£76.36/MWh
Day average £76.36
Demand31.1GW
Generation 28.6Transfers 2.5
Fossil fuels50%
Renewables16%
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 Tuesday 18 May 2021, gas supplied 50% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 13%. Demand peaked at 37.4 GW at 12:05. Carbon intensity averaged 228 g/kWh and the price £76.36/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 3.5 GW at 16:55. Solar generation peaked at 6.8 GW at 13:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 03:30 (206 g/kWh) and highest at 20:30 (264 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £43.71/MWh at 15:00 to £115.65/MWh at 07:30. Gas made 56% 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 2.357.3%Wind 2.327.2%Gas 16.0550.0%Hydro 0.311.0%Biomass 2.728.5%Nuclear 4.2713.3%Coal 0.551.7%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 31.1avgGeneration 28.6avgTransfers 2.5avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand37.4GW · 12:05
Low 22.0 · 04:55Avg 31.10–40 GW
Made in Great Britain92%of demand
Generation 28.6Transfers 2.5 GW
Net imports62GWh
In
81 Out
18
Zero-carbon share32%of generation
Nuclear 15%Hydro 1%Wind 8%Solar 8%

Transfers · Tue 18 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Tuesday 18 May 2021, Great Britain imported 81 GWh and exported 18 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (58 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (18 GWh).

All interconnectors

Tue 18 May
Imported
81GWh
Exported
18GWh
Net in
62GWh
Average net flow
2.60GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.97GWImporting

In 23.2 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average2.40GWImporting

In 57.5 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.77GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 18.4 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

Average0.10GWPumping

Generated 4.3 GWhPumped 6.8 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.