National Grid: Live

The National Grid is the electric power transmission network for Great Britain

Time
12:00pm
Price
£91.56/MWh
Emissions
211g/kWh
Demand
43.8GW
Generation
41.2GW
Transfers
2.6GW

Generation

Generation
41.2GW
94.0%
Note: percentages are relative to demand, so will exceed 100% if power is being exported

52.9% fossil fuels

Gas 23.1652.9

27.3% renewables

Solar 1.653.8
Wind 9.6522.0
Hydroelectric 0.641.5

13.8% other sources

Nuclear 3.528.0
Biomass 2.535.8

6.1% interconnectors

Belgium 0.561.3
Denmark −1.09−2.5
France 2.766.3
Ireland −0.98−2.2
Netherlands 0.000.0
Norway 1.403.2

−0.0% storage

Pumped storage −0.01−0.0
Battery storage
Time
Past day
Price
£103.24/MWh
Emissions
164g/kWh
Demand
36.8GW
Generation
32.7GW
Transfers
4.1GW
Generation
32.7GW
88.9%

Generation by type

Fossil fuels14.639.7
Renewables12.132.8
Other sources6.016.4

Generation by source

Coal0.000.0
Gas14.6339.7
Solar0.280.8
Wind11.2030.4
Hydroelectric0.591.6
Nuclear3.529.6
Biomass2.526.8

Interconnectors

Belgium0.852.3
Denmark0.611.7
France2.346.3
Ireland−0.95−2.6
Netherlands0.000.0
Norway1.353.7

Storage

Pumped storage−0.12−0.3

Price per MWh

£200
£180
£160
£140
£120
£100
£80
£60
£40
£20
£0
3:00pm
9:00pm
3:00am
9:00am

Emissions per kWh

600g
500g
400g
300g
200g
100g
0g
3:00pm
9:00pm
3:00am
9:00am

Demand

45GW
40GW
35GW
30GW
25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
−5GW
3:00pm
9:00pm
3:00am
9:00am

Generation

25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
3:00pm
9:00pm
3:00am
9:00am

Transfers

4GW
3GW
2GW
1GW
0GW
−1GW
−2GW
−3GW
3:00pm
9:00pm
3:00am
9:00am
Time
Past week
Price
£89.98/MWh
Emissions
130g/kWh
Demand
34.9GW
Generation
31.4GW
Transfers
3.5GW
Generation
31.4GW
90.1%

Generation by type

Fossil fuels10.630.4
Renewables15.444.2
Other sources5.415.5

Generation by source

Coal0.000.0
Gas10.6030.4
Solar0.330.9
Wind14.5041.5
Hydroelectric0.621.8
Nuclear3.269.3
Biomass2.146.1

Interconnectors

Belgium0.300.8
Denmark0.531.5
France1.925.5
Ireland−0.47−1.3
Netherlands0.120.3
Norway1.183.4

Storage

Pumped storage−0.10−0.3

Price per MWh

£200
£180
£160
£140
£120
£100
£80
£60
£40
£20
£0
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday

Emissions per kWh

600g
500g
400g
300g
200g
100g
0g
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday

Demand

45GW
40GW
35GW
30GW
25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
−5GW
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday

Generation

25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday

Transfers

4GW
3GW
2GW
1GW
0GW
−1GW
−2GW
−3GW
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Time
Past year
Price
£68.84/MWh
Emissions
122g/kWh
Demand
30.0GW
Generation
26.3GW
Transfers
3.7GW
Generation
26.3GW
87.6%

Generation by type

Fossil fuels8.327.6
Renewables11.538.2
Other sources6.521.8

Generation by source

Coal0.190.6
Gas8.0827.0
Solar1.525.1
Wind9.5331.8
Hydroelectric0.401.3
Nuclear4.3914.7
Biomass2.137.1

Interconnectors

Belgium0.481.6
Denmark0.381.3
France2.237.5
Ireland−0.58−1.9
Netherlands0.190.6
Norway1.043.5

Storage

Pumped storage−0.04−0.1

Price per MWh

£200
£180
£160
£140
£120
£100
£80
£60
£40
£20
£0
22/01/2024
22/04/2024
22/07/2024
21/10/2024

Emissions per kWh

600g
500g
400g
300g
200g
100g
0g
22/01/2024
22/04/2024
22/07/2024
21/10/2024

Demand

45GW
40GW
35GW
30GW
25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
−5GW
22/01/2024
22/04/2024
22/07/2024
21/10/2024

Generation

25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
22/01/2024
22/04/2024
22/07/2024
21/10/2024

Transfers

4GW
3GW
2GW
1GW
0GW
−1GW
−2GW
−3GW
22/01/2024
22/04/2024
22/07/2024
21/10/2024
Time
All time
Price
£67.61/MWh
Emissions
268g/kWh
Demand
33.0GW
Generation
31.0GW
Transfers
2.0GW
Generation
31.0GW
93.9%

Generation by type

Fossil fuels15.948.1
Renewables7.322.2
Other sources7.823.6

Generation by source

Coal4.6014.0
Gas11.2834.2
Solar1.073.2
Wind5.8517.7
Hydroelectric0.401.2
Nuclear6.2819.0
Biomass1.504.5

Interconnectors

Belgium0.220.7
Denmark0.030.1
France1.163.5
Ireland−0.17−0.5
Netherlands0.601.8
Norway0.190.6

Storage

Pumped storage−0.03−0.1

Price per MWh

£200
£180
£160
£140
£120
£100
£80
£60
£40
£20
£0
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

Emissions per kWh

600g
500g
400g
300g
200g
100g
0g
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

Demand

45GW
40GW
35GW
30GW
25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
−5GW
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

Generation

25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

Transfers

4GW
3GW
2GW
1GW
0GW
−1GW
−2GW
−3GW
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

The energy transition

Between 12th January 1882, when the world’s first coal-fired power station opened at 57 Holborn Viaduct in London, and 30th September 2024, when Great Britain’s last coal-fired power station closed, the country burnt 4.6 billion tonnes of coal, emitting 10.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.

In 2001 the European Union updated the Large Combustion Plant Directive, obliging power stations to limit their emissions or close by 2015. Most older coal-fired power stations in Great Britain closed in response. The government’s introduction of a carbon price floor in 2013, and its subsequent increase in 2015, made coal uncompetitive with gas, which rapidly replaced coal in the country’s energy mix.

At the same time, renewable power generation was steadily rising. Great Britain’s exposed position in the north-east Atlantic makes it one of the best locations in the world for wind power, and the shallow waters of the North Sea host several of the world’s largest offshore wind farms.

New wind power records are set regularly, and between 9:30pm and 10:00pm on 5th December 2024 British wind farms averaged a record 22.02GW of generation.

PowerDate first achieved
22GW5th December 2024
21GW10th January 2023
20GW2nd November 2022
15GW18th December 2018
10GW8th December 2016

About this site

This site is an open source project by Kate Morley. I’ve published the code on GitHub under the terms of the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Legal Code. This means I’ve waived all copyright and related rights to the extent possible under law, with the intention of dedicating the code to the public domain. You can use and adapt it without attribution.

If you’d like to thank me for the time I’ve spent working on this project, or help me cover the costs of hosting a site that received 16,590,045 visits over the past year, I do accept donations.

Weekly visits

800,000
700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
22/01/2024
22/04/2024
22/07/2024
21/10/2024

The data comes from Elexon Insights Solution, National Grid ESO’s Data Portal, and the Carbon Intensity API (a project by National Grid ESO and the University Of Oxford Department Of Computer Science). Elexon’s licence requires the following statement: Contains BMRS data © Elexon Limited copyright and database right 2024.