UK electricity in 2009

How Great Britain made its electricity in 2009, from 365 days of half-hourly data.

In 2009, gas made 45% of Britain's electricity, ahead of coal (30%). Renewables made 2%, and the average carbon intensity was 445 g/kWh.

Electricity generated each day in 2009

GWh a day

05001000 GWhJan 09Mar 09May 09Jul 09Sept 09Nov 09
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the numbers
  • Nuclear
  • Gas
  • Hydro
  • Imports
  • Pumped storage
  • Wind
  • Coal

Share of electricity, by source

0%50%100%Jan 09Mar 09May 09Jul 09Sept 09Nov 09
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the numbers

Carbon intensity

g CO₂ per kWh, daily average

0200400600 gJan 09Mar 09May 09Jul 09Sept 09Nov 09
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the numbers

2009 in total

SourceElectricityShare
Gas147.4 TWh44.8%
Coal98.8 TWh30.0%
Nuclear65.0 TWh19.7%
Imports6,684 GWh2.0%
Wind4,158 GWh1.3%
Pumped storage3,617 GWh1.1%
Hydro3,558 GWh1.1%
Renewable (wind, solar, hydro, biomass)2.3%
Low carbon (renewable plus nuclear)22.1%

Standout days

Month by month

MonthTotalWindGasNuclearSolarCarbon
January 200932.7 TWh1%35%13%0%578 g
February 200929.2 TWh1%34%19%0%535 g
March 200929.5 TWh2%39%22%0%464 g
April 200925.5 TWh1%43%24%0%409 g
May 200925.2 TWh2%46%20%0%410 g
June 200924.4 TWh1%45%24%0%410 g
July 200924.9 TWh1%48%24%0%390 g
August 200924.5 TWh2%51%23%0%370 g
September 200925.0 TWh1%52%20%0%406 g
October 200927.6 TWh1%49%17%0%464 g
November 200928.6 TWh2%50%18%0%435 g
December 200932.0 TWh1%48%17%0%472 g