Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 31 August 2023

On Thursday 31 August, demand averaged 27.5 GW. Renewables supplied 15%.

27.5GW AVERAGEWind2.40 GW8%Hydro0.30 GW1%Biomass1.32 GW5%Solar1.52 GW5%Gas14.28 GW50%Imports3.59 GW13%Nuclear5.20 GW18%27.5GW AVERAGE8%50%13%18%
Price
£88.52/MWh
Day average £88.52
Demand27.5GW
Generation 25.0Transfers 2.5
Fossil fuels50%
Renewables15%
Other35%
Carbon intensityHigh
216g/kWh
0Day average 216300
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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 31 August 2023, gas supplied 50% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 18%. Demand peaked at 33.6 GW at 12:55. Carbon intensity averaged 216 g/kWh and the price £88.52/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 3.4 GW at 18:50. Solar generation peaked at 5.7 GW at 12:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 12:30 (186 g/kWh) and highest at 06:00 (245 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £67.59/MWh at 11:00 to £112.30/MWh at 17:00. Gas made 57% 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 1.525.3%Wind 2.408.4%Gas 14.2849.9%Hydro 0.301.0%Biomass 1.324.6%Nuclear 5.2018.2%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 27.5avgGeneration 25.0avgTransfers 2.5avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand33.6GW · 12:55
Low 19.5 · 03:35Avg 27.50–40 GW
Made in Great Britain91%of demand
Generation 25.0Transfers 2.5 GW
Net imports59GWh
In
85 Out
26
Zero-carbon share38%of generation
Nuclear 21%Hydro 1%Wind 10%Solar 6%

Transfers · Thu 31 Aug

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 31 August 2023, Great Britain imported 85 GWh and exported 26 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (36 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (15 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 31 Aug
Imported
85GWh
Exported
26GWh
Net in
59GWh
Average net flow
2.47GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.22GWImporting

In 8.2 GWhOut 3.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.39GWImporting

In 35.9 GWhOut 2.7 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.60GWExporting

In 0.5 GWhOut 14.8 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.13GWImporting

In 8.8 GWhOut 5.7 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average1.33GWImporting

In 31.8 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.01GWGenerating

Generated 0.8 GWhPumped 0.7 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.