Electricity Live

Great Britain’s electricity on Thursday 21 May 2026

On Thursday 21 May, demand averaged 29.2 GW. Renewables supplied 44%.

29.2GW AVERAGEWind9.32 GW31%Hydro0.29 GW1%Biomass2.17 GW7%Solar3.58 GW12%Gas6.51 GW21%Imports5.75 GW19%Nuclear2.69 GW9%29.2GW AVERAGE31%7%12%21%19%9%
Price
£107.09/MWh
Day average £107.09
Demand29.2GW
Generation 24.6Transfers 4.6
Fossil fuels21%
Renewables44%
Other35%
Carbon intensityModerate
115g/kWh
0Day average 115300
Save as image
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 21 May 2026, wind supplied 31% of Great Britain’s electricity and gas 21%. Demand peaked at 35.3 GW at 13:30. Carbon intensity averaged 115 g/kWh and the price £107.09/MWh. Wind generation peaked at 12.1 GW at 11:30. Solar generation peaked at 11.7 GW at 13:30. Carbon intensity was lowest at 13:00 (56 g/kWh) and highest at 20:30 (191 g/kWh). The wholesale price ranged from £69.96/MWh at 14:30 to £161.71/MWh at 20:30. Wind made 38% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, compared with 36% across 2026 so far.

Charts

Generation, demand, price and carbon

Generation by sourceGW · daily average below
Solar 3.5811.8%Wind 9.3230.7%Gas 6.5121.5%Hydro 0.291.0%Biomass 2.177.2%Nuclear 2.698.9%
Price£/MWh
Carbon intensitygCO₂/kWh
Demand and generationGW
Demand 29.2avgGeneration 24.6avgTransfers 4.6avg
The day in figurespeaks, averages, totals
Peak demand35.3GW · 13:30
Low 21.2 · 05:00Avg 29.20–40 GW
Made in Great Britain84%of demand
Generation 24.6Transfers 4.6 GW
Net imports110GWh
In
132 Out
23
Zero-carbon share65%of generation
Nuclear 11%Hydro 1%Wind 38%Solar 15%

Transfers · Thu 21 May

Interconnectors and storage

On Thursday 21 May 2026, Great Britain imported 132 GWh and exported 23 GWh through its interconnectors. The most came from France (84 GWh), and the most exports went to Ireland (12 GWh).

All interconnectors

Thu 21 May
Imported
132GWh
Exported
23GWh
Net in
110GWh
Average net flow
4.58GW in

Into Great BritainOut of Great Britain

Belgium

Nemo Link

Average0.30GWImporting

In 11.5 GWhOut 4.2 GWh

Denmark

Viking Link

Average0.00GWIdle

In 0.0 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

France

IFA · IFA2 · ElecLink

Average3.50GWImporting

In 83.9 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Ireland

Moyle · East–West · Greenlink

Average0.50GWExporting

In 0.4 GWhOut 12.2 GWh

Netherlands

BritNed

Average0.17GWImporting

In 10.1 GWhOut 6.1 GWh

Norway

North Sea Link

Average1.10GWImporting

In 26.5 GWhOut 0.0 GWh

Pumped storage

Dinorwig · Cruachan · Ffestiniog · Foyers

Average0.07GWGenerating

Generated 5.6 GWhPumped 4.1 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.