Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Tuesday 21 May 2024

On Tuesday 21 May, demand averaged 27.7 GW. Renewables supplied 14%.

27.7GW AVERAGEWind2.08 GW7%Hydro0.20 GW1%Biomass1.63 GW6%Solar1.85 GW6%Gas11.17 GW39%Coal0.09 GW0%Imports7.24 GW25%Nuclear4.69 GW16%27.7GW AVERAGE7%39%25%16%
Price
£82.45/MWh
Day average £82.45
Demand27.7GW
Generation 21.7Transfers 6.0
Fossil fuels39%
Renewables14%
Other47%
Carbon intensityModerate
178g/kWh
0Day average 178300
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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 Tuesday 21 May 2024, gas supplied 39% of Great Britain’s electricity and nuclear 16%. Demand peaked at 32.8 GW at 12:15. Carbon intensity averaged 178 g/kWh and the price £82.45/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 3.3 GW at 00:00. Solar generation peaked at 5.7 GW at 12:00. Carbon intensity was lowest at 02:30 (139 g/kWh) and highest at 20:30 (207 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £63.48/MWh at 03:30 to £106.45/MWh at 18:00. Gas made 51% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 31% across 2024.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 1.856.4%Wind 2.087.2%Gas 11.1738.6%Hydro 0.200.7%Biomass 1.635.6%Nuclear 4.6916.2%Coal 0.090.3%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 27.7avgGeneration 21.7avgTransfers 6.0avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand32.8GW · 12:15
Low 19.7 · 04:55Avg 27.70–40 GW
Made in Great Britain78%of demand
Generation 21.7Transfers 6.0 GW
Net imports143GWh
In
170 Out
27
Zero-carbon share41%of generation
Nuclear 22%Hydro 1%Wind 10%Solar 9%

Transfers · Tue 21 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Tuesday 21 May 2024, Great Britain imported 170 GWh and exported 27 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (72 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (22 GWh).

All interconnectors

Tue 21 May
Imported
170GWh
Exported
27GWh
Net in
143GWh
Average net flow
5.96GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.95GWImporting

In 22.8 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average1.38GWImporting

In 33.1 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average2.99GWImporting

In 71.8 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.93GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 22.2 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.17GWImporting

In 8.6 GWhOut 4.5 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average1.40GWImporting

In 33.6 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.03GWGenerating

Generated 4.0 GWhPumped 3.4 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.