Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 16 December 2021

On Thursday 16 December, demand averaged 34.9 GW. Renewables supplied 11%.

34.9GW AVERAGEWind3.22 GW9%Hydro0.57 GW2%Biomass2.53 GW7%Solar0.21 GW1%Gas19.39 GW54%Coal1.29 GW4%Imports3.57 GW10%Nuclear5.23 GW15%34.9GW AVERAGE9%7%54%10%15%
Price
£328.11/MWh
Day average £328.11
Demand34.9GW
Generation 32.4Transfers 2.5
Fossil fuels54%
Renewables11%
Other31%
Carbon intensityHigh
271g/kWh
0Day average 271300
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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 16 December 2021, gas supplied 54% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 15%. Demand peaked at 42.7 GW at 16:50. Carbon intensity averaged 271 g/kWh and the price £328.11/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 4.2 GW at 00:00. Solar generation peaked at 1.2 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 03:30 (241 g/kWh) and highest at 07:30 (301 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £214.37/MWh at 04:30 to £634.05/MWh at 17:00. Gas made 60% 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 0.210.6%Wind 3.228.9%Gas 19.3953.8%Hydro 0.571.6%Biomass 2.537.0%Nuclear 5.2314.5%Coal 1.293.6%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 34.9avgGeneration 32.4avgTransfers 2.5avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand42.7GW · 16:50
Low 24.4 · 04:30Avg 34.90–60 GW
Made in Great Britain93%of demand
Generation 32.4Transfers 2.5 GW
Net imports58GWh
In
77 Out
19
Zero-carbon share28%of generation
Nuclear 16%Hydro 2%Wind 10%Solar 1%

Transfers · Thu 16 Dec

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 16 December 2021, Great Britain imported 77 GWh and exported 19 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (18 GWh), and the most exports went to France (16 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 16 Dec
Imported
77GWh
Exported
19GWh
Net in
58GWh
Average net flow
2.41GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.65GWImporting

In 17.9 GWhOut 2.2 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average0.10GWImporting

In 18.4 GWhOut 16.1 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.41GWImporting

In 9.9 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.55GWImporting

In 13.8 GWhOut 0.7 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.69GWImporting

In 16.6 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.09GWGenerating

Generated 9.0 GWhPumped 7.0 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.