Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Wednesday 4 August 2021

On Wednesday 4 August, demand averaged 28.7 GW. Renewables supplied 17%.

28.7GW AVERAGEWind2.23 GW8%Hydro0.19 GW1%Biomass2.78 GW9%Solar2.69 GW9%Gas11.84 GW40%Coal0.93 GW3%Imports4.76 GW16%Nuclear4.15 GW14%28.7GW AVERAGE8%9%9%40%16%14%
Price
£103.29/MWh
Day average £103.29
Demand28.7GW
Generation 24.8Transfers 3.9
Fossil fuels40%
Renewables17%
Other40%
Carbon intensityHigh
225g/kWh
0Day average 225300
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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 Wednesday 4 August 2021, gas supplied 40% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 14%. Demand peaked at 34.8 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity averaged 225 g/kWh and the price £103.29/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 4.1 GW at 23:00. Solar generation peaked at 7.8 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 13:30 (198 g/kWh) and highest at 07:00 (249 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £78.45/MWh at 01:30 to £132.82/MWh at 08:30. Gas made 48% 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 2.699.1%Wind 2.237.5%Gas 11.8440.0%Hydro 0.190.6%Biomass 2.789.4%Nuclear 4.1514.0%Coal 0.933.2%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 28.7avgGeneration 24.8avgTransfers 3.9avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand34.8GW · 12:30
Low 20.2 · 03:40Avg 28.70–40 GW
Made in Great Britain86%of demand
Generation 24.8Transfers 3.9 GW
Net imports91GWh
In
108 Out
18
Zero-carbon share37%of generation
Nuclear 17%Hydro 1%Wind 9%Solar 11%

Transfers · Wed 4 Aug

Interconnectors and storage

On Wednesday 4 August 2021, Great Britain imported 108 GWh and exported 18 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (65 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (18 GWh).

All interconnectors

Wed 4 Aug
Imported
108GWh
Exported
18GWh
Net in
91GWh
Average net flow
3.78GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.90GWImporting

In 21.7 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average2.72GWImporting

In 65.4 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.73GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 17.6 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.89GWImporting

In 21.3 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.12GWGenerating

Generated 5.8 GWhPumped 2.8 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.