Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 21 October 2021

On Thursday 21 October, demand averaged 32.7 GW. Renewables supplied 49%.

32.7GW AVERAGEWind14.38 GW43%Hydro0.59 GW2%Biomass2.25 GW7%Solar1.69 GW5%Gas7.38 GW22%Imports2.88 GW9%Nuclear4.58 GW14%32.7GW AVERAGE43%22%9%14%
Price
£159.91/MWh
Day average £159.91
Demand32.7GW
Generation 30.9Transfers 1.8
Fossil fuels22%
Renewables49%
Other29%
Carbon intensityLow
99g/kWh
0Day average 99300
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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 Thursday 21 October 2021, wind supplied 43% of Great Britain’s electricity and gas 22%. Demand peaked at 40.3 GW at 18:35. Carbon intensity averaged 99 g/kWh and the price £159.91/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 15.7 GW at 04:55. Solar generation peaked at 7.1 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 05:00 (60 g/kWh) and highest at 17:30 (142 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £6.41/MWh at 03:00 to £225.70/MWh at 08:30. Wind made 47% 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 1.695.0%Wind 14.3842.6%Gas 7.3821.9%Hydro 0.591.7%Biomass 2.256.7%Nuclear 4.5813.6%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 32.7avgGeneration 30.9avgTransfers 1.8avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand40.3GW · 18:35
Low 22.5 · 03:05Avg 32.70–60 GW
Made in Great Britain94%of demand
Generation 30.9Transfers 1.8 GW
Net imports47GWh
In
62 Out
16
Zero-carbon share69%of generation
Nuclear 15%Hydro 2%Wind 47%Solar 5%

Transfers · Thu 21 Oct

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 21 October 2021, Great Britain imported 62 GWh and exported 16 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from Belgium (20 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (8 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 21 Oct
Imported
62GWh
Exported
16GWh
Net in
47GWh
Average net flow
1.94GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.85GWImporting

In 20.3 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average0.66GWImporting

In 20.2 GWhOut 4.4 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.34GWExporting

In 0.1 GWhOut 8.3 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.29GWImporting

In 8.8 GWhOut 1.9 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.50GWImporting

In 12.8 GWhOut 0.9 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.13GWPumping

Generated 6.9 GWhPumped 10.0 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.