Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 18 May 2023

On Thursday 18 May, demand averaged 28.1 GW. Renewables supplied 23%.

28.1GW AVERAGEWind3.87 GW13%Hydro0.14 GW0%Biomass0.84 GW3%Solar2.75 GW9%Gas11.63 GW40%Imports5.92 GW20%Nuclear3.98 GW14%28.1GW AVERAGE13%9%40%20%14%
Price
£71.67/MWh
Day average £71.67
Demand28.1GW
Generation 23.2Transfers 4.9
Fossil fuels40%
Renewables23%
Other37%
Carbon intensityModerate
180g/kWh
0Day average 180300
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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 18 May 2023, gas supplied 40% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 14%. Demand peaked at 33.7 GW at 10:00. Carbon intensity averaged 180 g/kWh and the price £71.67/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 4.7 GW at 00:00. Solar generation peaked at 8.3 GW at 11:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 11:00 (141 g/kWh) and highest at 21:30 (213 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £56.80/MWh at 07:00 to £92.23/MWh at 17:30. Gas made 50% 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 2.759.4%Wind 3.8713.3%Gas 11.6339.9%Hydro 0.140.5%Biomass 0.842.9%Nuclear 3.9813.7%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 28.1avgGeneration 23.2avgTransfers 4.9avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand33.7GW · 10:00
Low 19.9 · 04:10Avg 28.10–40 GW
Made in Great Britain82%of demand
Generation 23.2Transfers 4.9 GW
Net imports119GWh
In
141 Out
22
Zero-carbon share46%of generation
Nuclear 17%Hydro 1%Wind 17%Solar 12%

Transfers · Thu 18 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 18 May 2023, Great Britain imported 141 GWh and exported 22 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (86 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (15 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 18 May
Imported
141GWh
Exported
22GWh
Net in
119GWh
Average net flow
4.95GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.54GWImporting

In 14.6 GWhOut 1.7 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average3.58GWImporting

In 86.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.63GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 15.1 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.36GWImporting

In 14.4 GWhOut 5.7 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average1.09GWImporting

In 26.2 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.03GWPumping

Generated 0.9 GWhPumped 1.5 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.