Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Wednesday 20 May 2026

On Wednesday 20 May, demand averaged 29.5 GW. Renewables supplied 55%.

29.5GW AVERAGEWind14.21 GW45%Hydro0.26 GW1%Biomass2.03 GW6%Solar2.79 GW9%Gas4.11 GW13%Coal0.00 GW0%Imports5.24 GW17%Nuclear2.83 GW9%29.5GW AVERAGE45%9%13%17%9%
Price
£112.29/MWh
Day average £112.29
Demand29.5GW
Generation 26.2Transfers 3.3
Fossil fuels13%
Renewables55%
Other32%
Carbon intensityLow
80g/kWh
0Day average 80300
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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 20 May 2026, wind supplied 45% of Great Britain’s electricity and gas 13%. Demand peaked at 35.0 GW at 15:55. Carbon intensity averaged 80 g/kWh and the price £112.29/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 16.1 GW at 12:50. Solar generation peaked at 7.3 GW at 10:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 04:00 (51 g/kWh) and highest at 20:30 (142 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £94.17/MWh at 02:00 to £128.29/MWh at 20:30. Wind made 54% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 37% across 2026 so far.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 2.798.9%Wind 14.2145.2%Gas 4.1113.1%Hydro 0.260.8%Biomass 2.036.4%Nuclear 2.839.0%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 29.5avgGeneration 26.2avgTransfers 3.3avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand35.0GW · 15:55
Low 21.8 · 05:00Avg 29.50–40 GW
Made in Great Britain89%of demand
Generation 26.2Transfers 3.3 GW
Net imports83GWh
In
124 Out
41
Zero-carbon share77%of generation
Nuclear 11%Hydro 1%Wind 54%Solar 11%

Transfers · Wed 20 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Wednesday 20 May 2026, Great Britain imported 124 GWh and exported 41 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (83 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (27 GWh).

All interconnectors

Wed 20 May
Imported
124GWh
Exported
41GWh
Net in
83GWh
Average net flow
3.47GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.60GWImporting

In 15.5 GWhOut 1.2 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average3.46GWImporting

In 83.1 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average1.14GWExporting

In 0.0 GWhOut 27.3 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.20GWImporting

In 11.7 GWhOut 7.0 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average0.35GWImporting

In 13.8 GWhOut 5.3 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.15GWPumping

Generated 1.6 GWhPumped 5.3 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.