Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Friday 20 August 2021

On Friday 20 August, demand averaged 29.1 GW. Renewables supplied 12%.

29.1GW AVERAGEWind2.18 GW7%Hydro0.22 GW1%Biomass2.33 GW8%Solar1.24 GW4%Gas14.05 GW48%Imports5.22 GW18%Nuclear4.19 GW14%29.1GW AVERAGE7%8%48%18%14%
Price
£113.37/MWh
Day average £113.37
Demand29.1GW
Generation 24.2Transfers 4.9
Fossil fuels48%
Renewables12%
Other40%
Carbon intensityHigh
228g/kWh
0Day average 228300
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 Friday 20 August 2021, gas supplied 48% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 14%. Demand peaked at 34.4 GW at 13:10. Carbon intensity averaged 228 g/kWh and the price £113.37/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 4.8 GW at 23:30. Solar generation peaked at 4.1 GW at 11:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 23:30 (187 g/kWh) and highest at 07:00 (252 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £78.41/MWh at 06:30 to £140.60/MWh at 17:00. Gas made 58% 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 1.244.2%Wind 2.187.4%Gas 14.0547.8%Hydro 0.220.8%Biomass 2.337.9%Nuclear 4.1914.2%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 29.1avgGeneration 24.2avgTransfers 4.9avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand34.4GW · 13:10
Low 21.1 · 03:55Avg 29.10–40 GW
Made in Great Britain83%of demand
Generation 24.2Transfers 4.9 GW
Net imports119GWh
In
121 Out
2
Zero-carbon share32%of generation
Nuclear 17%Hydro 1%Wind 9%Solar 5%

Transfers · Fri 20 Aug

Interconnectors and storage

On Friday 20 August 2021, Great Britain imported 121 GWh and exported 2 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (69 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (2 GWh).

All interconnectors

Fri 20 Aug
Imported
121GWh
Exported
2GWh
Net in
119GWh
Average net flow
4.97GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.93GWImporting

In 22.2 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average2.86GWImporting

In 68.7 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.20GWImporting

In 6.5 GWhOut 1.7 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.95GWImporting

In 22.8 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.04GWImporting

In 1.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.08GWPumping

Generated 4.2 GWhPumped 6.2 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.