UK electricity in 2013

How Great Britain made its electricity in 2013, from 365 days of half-hourly data.

In 2013, coal made 39% of Britain's electricity, ahead of gas (25%). Renewables made 8% (up from 6% in 2012), and the average carbon intensity was 475 g/kWh.

Electricity generated each day in 2013

GWh a day

05001000 GWhJan 13Mar 13May 13Jul 13Sept 13Nov 13
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the numbers
  • Nuclear
  • Gas
  • Hydro
  • Imports
  • Pumped storage
  • Wind
  • Solar
  • Coal
  • Other

Share of electricity, by source

0%50%100%Jan 13Mar 13May 13Jul 13Sept 13Nov 13
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the numbers

Carbon intensity

g CO₂ per kWh, daily average

0200400600 gJan 13Mar 13May 13Jul 13Sept 13Nov 13
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the numbers

2013 in total

SourceElectricityShare
Coal125.8 TWh39.0%
Gas80.1 TWh24.9%
Nuclear65.9 TWh20.5%
Wind21.3 TWh6.6%
Imports17.6 TWh5.5%
Other3,852 GWh1.2%
Hydro2,914 GWh0.9%
Pumped storage2,802 GWh0.9%
Solar2,076 GWh0.6%
Renewable (wind, solar, hydro, biomass)8.2%
Low carbon (renewable plus nuclear)28.6%

Standout days

Month by month

MonthTotalWindGasNuclearSolarCarbon
January 201331.5 TWh6%23%20%0%508 g
February 201328.5 TWh6%26%18%0%520 g
March 201330.8 TWh6%26%17%0%525 g
April 201326.9 TWh7%24%21%1%478 g
May 201325.3 TWh7%25%18%1%481 g
June 201323.4 TWh5%33%20%1%444 g
July 201324.6 TWh3%27%24%1%437 g
August 201323.9 TWh5%22%27%1%438 g
September 201324.2 TWh6%24%21%1%473 g
October 201326.1 TWh8%21%21%0%477 g
November 201328.3 TWh8%26%19%0%475 g
December 201329.0 TWh11%21%21%0%449 g