Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Saturday 18 December 2021

On Saturday 18 December, demand averaged 32.8 GW. Renewables supplied 8%.

32.8GW AVERAGEWind2.01 GW6%Hydro0.58 GW2%Biomass1.72 GW5%Solar0.22 GW1%Gas17.80 GW54%Coal0.60 GW2%Imports4.84 GW15%Nuclear5.40 GW16%32.8GW AVERAGE54%15%16%
Price
£294.32/MWh
Day average £294.32
Demand32.8GW
Generation 28.3Transfers 4.5
Fossil fuels54%
Renewables8%
Other36%
Carbon intensityHigh
258g/kWh
0Day average 258300
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 Saturday 18 December 2021, gas supplied 54% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 16%. Demand peaked at 40.6 GW at 17:35. Carbon intensity averaged 258 g/kWh and the price £294.32/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 2.8 GW at 02:15. Solar generation peaked at 1.2 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 00:00 (218 g/kWh) and highest at 15:30 (291 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £237.49/MWh at 03:00 to £348.38/MWh at 23:00. Gas made 63% 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 0.220.7%Wind 2.016.1%Gas 17.8053.6%Hydro 0.581.7%Biomass 1.725.2%Nuclear 5.4016.3%Coal 0.601.8%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 32.8avgGeneration 28.3avgTransfers 4.5avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand40.6GW · 17:35
Low 24.2 · 04:25Avg 32.80–60 GW
Made in Great Britain86%of demand
Generation 28.3Transfers 4.5 GW
Net imports111GWh
In
111 Out
0
Zero-carbon share29%of generation
Nuclear 19%Hydro 2%Wind 7%Solar 1%

Transfers · Sat 18 Dec

Interconnectors and storage

On Saturday 18 December 2021, Great Britain imported 111 GWh and exported 0 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (34 GWh).

All interconnectors

Sat 18 Dec
Imported
111GWh
Exported
0GWh
Net in
111GWh
Average net flow
4.60GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.95GWImporting

In 22.9 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.41GWImporting

In 33.8 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.55GWImporting

In 13.2 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average1.00GWImporting

In 24.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.69GWImporting

In 16.6 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.12GWPumping

Generated 5.6 GWhPumped 8.4 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.