Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 21 December 2023

On Thursday 21 December, demand averaged 33.8 GW. Renewables supplied 61%.

33.8GW AVERAGEWind20.88 GW59%Hydro0.67 GW2%Biomass2.03 GW6%Solar0.27 GW1%Gas3.31 GW9%Imports3.55 GW10%Nuclear4.93 GW14%33.8GW AVERAGE59%9%10%14%
Price
£40.58/MWh
Day average £40.58
Demand33.8GW
Generation 32.1Transfers 1.7
Fossil fuels9%
Renewables61%
Other29%
Carbon intensityLow
47g/kWh
0Day average 47300
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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

Records set on this day

All records

Key moments

On Thursday 21 December 2023, wind supplied 59% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 14%. Demand peaked at 40.6 GW at 12:15. Carbon intensity averaged 47 g/kWh and the price £40.58/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 22.0 GW at 09:15. Solar generation peaked at 1.7 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 21:00 (34 g/kWh) and highest at 16:30 (64 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from −£1.59/MWh at 03:00 to £78.87/MWh at 17:00. The price was below zero for 1 hours. Wind made 65% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 33% across 2023.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 0.270.8%Wind 20.8858.6%Gas 3.319.3%Hydro 0.671.9%Biomass 2.035.7%Nuclear 4.9313.8%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 33.8avgGeneration 32.1avgTransfers 1.7avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand40.6GW · 12:15
Low 24.7 · 04:45Avg 33.80–60 GW
Made in Great Britain95%of demand
Generation 32.1Transfers 1.7 GW
Net imports42GWh
In
78 Out
36
Zero-carbon share83%of generation
Nuclear 15%Hydro 2%Wind 65%Solar 1%

Transfers · Thu 21 Dec

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 21 December 2023, Great Britain imported 78 GWh and exported 36 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (39 GWh), and the most exports went to France (11 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 21 Dec
Imported
78GWh
Exported
36GWh
Net in
42GWh
Average net flow
1.76GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.57GWImporting

In 14.7 GWhOut 1.1 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.37GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 8.8 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average1.17GWImporting

In 39.3 GWhOut 11.3 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.18GWImporting

In 5.3 GWhOut 0.9 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.21GWExporting

In 2.2 GWhOut 7.1 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.42GWImporting

In 16.7 GWhOut 6.7 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.08GWPumping

Generated 7.0 GWhPumped 8.8 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.