Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Sunday 23 May 2021

On Sunday 23 May, demand averaged 28.8 GW. Renewables supplied 39%.

28.8GW AVERAGEWind9.74 GW33%Hydro0.23 GW1%Biomass2.56 GW9%Solar1.61 GW5%Gas7.00 GW24%Imports3.53 GW12%Nuclear4.83 GW16%28.8GW AVERAGE33%9%24%12%16%
Price
£60.36/MWh
Day average £60.36
Demand28.8GW
Generation 26.0Transfers 2.8
Fossil fuels24%
Renewables39%
Other37%
Carbon intensityLow
114g/kWh
0Day average 114300
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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 23 May 2021, wind supplied 33% of Great Britain’s electricity and gas 24%. Demand peaked at 35.6 GW at 16:55. Carbon intensity averaged 114 g/kWh and the price £60.36/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 16.0 GW at 15:55. Solar generation peaked at 4.7 GW at 10:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 13:30 (68 g/kWh) and highest at 00:00 (193 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £30.23/MWh at 07:00 to £85.98/MWh at 21:00. Wind made 38% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 25% across 2021.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 1.615.5%Wind 9.7433.0%Gas 7.0023.7%Hydro 0.230.8%Biomass 2.568.7%Nuclear 4.8316.4%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 28.8avgGeneration 26.0avgTransfers 2.8avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand35.6GW · 16:55
Low 20.8 · 05:20Avg 28.80–40 GW
Made in Great Britain90%of demand
Generation 26.0Transfers 2.8 GW
Net imports68GWh
In
81 Out
13
Zero-carbon share63%of generation
Nuclear 19%Hydro 1%Wind 38%Solar 6%

Transfers · Sun 23 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Sunday 23 May 2021, Great Britain imported 81 GWh and exported 13 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (58 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (13 GWh).

All interconnectors

Sun 23 May
Imported
81GWh
Exported
13GWh
Net in
68GWh
Average net flow
2.83GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.81GWImporting

In 19.4 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average2.42GWImporting

In 58.1 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.41GWExporting

In 3.1 GWhOut 12.9 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

Average0.00GWIdle

Generated 4.1 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.