Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Wednesday 17 May 2023

On Wednesday 17 May, demand averaged 28.6 GW. Renewables supplied 20%.

28.6GW AVERAGEWind3.14 GW11%Hydro0.13 GW0%Biomass0.76 GW3%Solar2.60 GW9%Gas13.42 GW45%Imports5.73 GW19%Nuclear3.81 GW13%28.6GW AVERAGE11%9%45%19%13%
Price
£74.35/MWh
Day average £74.35
Demand28.6GW
Generation 23.9Transfers 4.8
Fossil fuels45%
Renewables20%
Other35%
Carbon intensityModerate
198g/kWh
0Day average 198300
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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 17 May 2023, gas supplied 45% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 13%. Demand peaked at 34.2 GW at 11:50. Carbon intensity averaged 198 g/kWh and the price £74.35/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 4.8 GW at 23:55. Solar generation peaked at 7.6 GW at 11:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 14:30 (160 g/kWh) and highest at 05:00 (239 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £62.08/MWh at 11:00 to £107.48/MWh at 07:30. Gas made 56% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 36% across 2023.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 2.608.8%Wind 3.1410.6%Gas 13.4245.3%Hydro 0.130.5%Biomass 0.762.6%Nuclear 3.8112.9%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 28.6avgGeneration 23.9avgTransfers 4.8avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand34.2GW · 11:50
Low 21.2 · 03:50Avg 28.60–40 GW
Made in Great Britain83%of demand
Generation 23.9Transfers 4.8 GW
Net imports117GWh
In
137 Out
20
Zero-carbon share41%of generation
Nuclear 16%Hydro 1%Wind 13%Solar 11%

Transfers · Wed 17 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Wednesday 17 May 2023, Great Britain imported 137 GWh and exported 20 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (81 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (17 GWh).

All interconnectors

Wed 17 May
Imported
137GWh
Exported
20GWh
Net in
117GWh
Average net flow
4.88GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.47GWImporting

In 12.0 GWhOut 0.7 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average3.39GWImporting

In 81.5 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.69GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 16.6 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.41GWImporting

In 12.2 GWhOut 2.3 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average1.30GWImporting

In 31.1 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.12GWPumping

Generated 0.8 GWhPumped 3.6 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.