UK electricity in May 2020

Day by day: how Great Britain made its electricity in May 2020.

In May 2020, gas made 28% of Britain's electricity, then nuclear (21%). Renewables made 40%, against 27% a year earlier; average carbon intensity 136 g/kWh.

Electricity generated each day, May 2020

GWh a day

0200400600 GWh7 May14 May21 May28 May
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the numbers
  • Nuclear
  • Gas
  • Hydro
  • Imports
  • Biomass
  • Pumped storage
  • Wind
  • Solar
  • Other

Share of electricity, by source

0%50%100%May 20May 20May 20May 20
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the numbers

Carbon intensity

g CO₂ per kWh, daily average

0100200 g7 May14 May21 May28 May
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the numbers

May 2020 in total

SourceElectricityShare
Gas5,493 GWh27.8%
Nuclear4,121 GWh20.8%
Wind4,015 GWh20.3%
Imports2,150 GWh10.9%
Solar1,978 GWh10.0%
Biomass1,622 GWh8.2%
Hydro220 GWh1.1%
Other110 GWh0.6%
Pumped storage84.1 GWh0.4%
Renewable (wind, solar, hydro, biomass)39.6%
Low carbon (renewable plus nuclear)60.4%

Standout days

Every day

DayTotalWindGasNuclearSolarCarbon
Fri 1 May666 GWh22%27%21%8%131 g
Sat 2 May631 GWh16%30%22%10%143 g
Sun 3 May621 GWh4%42%22%5%196 g
Mon 4 May651 GWh13%29%22%8%153 g
Tue 5 May664 GWh23%20%22%10%107 g
Wed 6 May657 GWh8%30%22%12%155 g
Thu 7 May655 GWh7%36%21%10%177 g
Fri 8 May600 GWh5%40%22%10%190 g
Sat 9 May579 GWh9%35%22%11%170 g
Sun 10 May609 GWh45%17%21%5%84 g
Mon 11 May684 GWh38%22%19%9%99 g
Tue 12 May685 GWh22%29%19%8%142 g
Wed 13 May682 GWh21%31%20%8%143 g
Thu 14 May688 GWh19%30%20%10%144 g
Fri 15 May664 GWh19%28%21%10%139 g
Sat 16 May606 GWh22%24%23%9%123 g
Sun 17 May592 GWh24%23%23%10%118 g
Mon 18 May658 GWh28%23%21%9%111 g
Tue 19 May648 GWh15%29%21%9%146 g
Wed 20 May650 GWh12%30%21%12%155 g
Thu 21 May652 GWh15%31%21%11%148 g
Fri 22 May670 GWh42%20%21%10%86 g
Sat 23 May645 GWh46%17%21%10%73 g
Sun 24 May619 GWh38%16%22%10%77 g
Mon 25 May598 GWh19%27%21%13%138 g
Tue 26 May641 GWh11%34%19%11%164 g
Wed 27 May642 GWh5%41%19%10%194 g
Thu 28 May637 GWh12%30%19%12%154 g
Fri 29 May628 GWh15%26%19%13%138 g
Sat 30 May591 GWh26%20%19%14%110 g
Sun 31 May580 GWh26%22%19%13%115 g