UK electricity in May 2018

Day by day: how Great Britain made its electricity in May 2018.

In May 2018, gas made 39% of Britain's electricity, then nuclear (22%). Renewables made 28%, against 18% a year earlier; average carbon intensity 186 g/kWh.

Electricity generated each day, May 2018

GWh a day

0250500750 GWh3 May10 May17 May24 May31 May
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the numbers
  • Nuclear
  • Gas
  • Hydro
  • Imports
  • Biomass
  • Pumped storage
  • Wind
  • Solar
  • Coal
  • Other

Share of electricity, by source

0%50%100%May 18May 18May 18May 18May 18
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the numbers

Carbon intensity

g CO₂ per kWh, daily average

0100200 g3 May10 May17 May24 May31 May
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the numbers

May 2018 in total

SourceElectricityShare
Gas9,038 GWh39.3%
Nuclear5,088 GWh22.1%
Wind3,000 GWh13.0%
Imports1,953 GWh8.5%
Solar1,691 GWh7.3%
Biomass1,518 GWh6.6%
Coal249 GWh1.1%
Hydro211 GWh0.9%
Pumped storage187 GWh0.8%
Other76.8 GWh0.3%
Renewable (wind, solar, hydro, biomass)27.9%
Low carbon (renewable plus nuclear)50.0%

Standout days

Every day

DayTotalWindGasNuclearSolarCarbon
Tue 1 May831 GWh24%32%21%7%170 g
Wed 2 May831 GWh27%31%20%5%161 g
Thu 3 May818 GWh15%40%21%6%199 g
Fri 4 May791 GWh10%46%22%6%214 g
Sat 5 May695 GWh12%33%25%10%159 g
Sun 6 May656 GWh8%34%27%11%169 g
Mon 7 May681 GWh6%39%26%10%187 g
Tue 8 May771 GWh11%41%23%8%192 g
Wed 9 May769 GWh14%37%23%6%183 g
Thu 10 May768 GWh12%38%23%9%175 g
Fri 11 May753 GWh25%28%23%5%142 g
Sat 12 May703 GWh5%44%24%6%210 g
Sun 13 May675 GWh5%40%24%9%197 g
Mon 14 May761 GWh13%40%21%10%184 g
Tue 15 May777 GWh12%41%21%9%191 g
Wed 16 May774 GWh19%39%21%5%179 g
Thu 17 May782 GWh10%43%20%9%204 g
Fri 18 May769 GWh4%51%19%9%227 g
Sat 19 May687 GWh9%40%21%11%187 g
Sun 20 May661 GWh16%32%22%10%155 g
Mon 21 May761 GWh8%46%19%8%214 g
Tue 22 May752 GWh17%38%19%9%174 g
Wed 23 May751 GWh14%39%20%8%185 g
Thu 24 May771 GWh10%46%19%5%210 g
Fri 25 May749 GWh11%45%20%3%212 g
Sat 26 May657 GWh22%26%24%8%146 g
Sun 27 May653 GWh27%22%25%9%115 g
Mon 28 May679 GWh8%39%25%8%191 g
Tue 29 May752 GWh18%38%23%4%175 g
Wed 30 May762 GWh7%51%23%2%222 g
Thu 31 May773 GWh3%51%24%4%233 g