National Grid: Live

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

Time
3:20pm
Price
£69.79/MWh
Emissions
156g/kWh
Demand
33.3GW
Generation
27.5GW
Transfers
5.8GW

Generation

Generation
27.5GW
82.6%
Note: percentages are relative to demand, so will exceed 100% if power is being exported

32.2% fossil fuels

Gas 10.7032.2

29.7% renewables

Solar 5.4916.5
Wind 4.2912.9
Hydroelectric 0.090.3

20.7% other sources

Nuclear 4.4113.3
Biomass 2.497.5

17.4% interconnectors

Belgium 1.003.0
Denmark 0.993.0
France 1.003.0
Ireland 0.381.1
Netherlands 1.033.1
Norway 1.404.2

−0.0% storage

Pumped storage −0.01−0.0
Battery storage
Time
Past day
Price
£83.73/MWh
Emissions
148g/kWh
Demand
30.2GW
Generation
25.8GW
Transfers
4.4GW
Generation
25.8GW
85.5%

Generation by type

Fossil fuels9.832.4
Renewables9.130.3
Other sources6.922.8

Generation by source

Coal0.000.0
Gas9.7832.4
Solar1.876.2
Wind7.1023.5
Hydroelectric0.170.6
Nuclear4.4114.6
Biomass2.488.2

Interconnectors

Belgium0.782.6
Denmark0.882.9
France1.003.3
Ireland−0.47−1.5
Netherlands0.672.2
Norway1.404.6

Storage

Pumped storage0.110.4

Price per MWh

£200
£180
£160
£140
£120
£100
£80
£60
£40
£20
£0
6:00pm
12:00am
6:00am
12:00pm

Emissions per kWh

600g
500g
400g
300g
200g
100g
0g
6:00pm
12:00am
6:00am
12:00pm

Demand

40GW
35GW
30GW
25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
−5GW
6:00pm
12:00am
6:00am
12:00pm

Generation

20GW
18GW
16GW
14GW
12GW
10GW
8GW
6GW
4GW
2GW
0GW
6:00pm
12:00am
6:00am
12:00pm

Transfers

4GW
3GW
2GW
1GW
0GW
−1GW
−2GW
6:00pm
12:00am
6:00am
12:00pm
Time
Past week
Price
£73.61/MWh
Emissions
99g/kWh
Demand
29.5GW
Generation
25.8GW
Transfers
3.7GW
Generation
25.8GW
87.4%

Generation by type

Fossil fuels6.321.3
Renewables13.244.7
Other sources6.321.4

Generation by source

Coal0.070.2
Gas6.2021.1
Solar1.194.1
Wind11.7940.1
Hydroelectric0.170.6
Nuclear4.3814.9
Biomass1.906.5

Interconnectors

Belgium0.582.0
Denmark1.013.4
France0.903.1
Ireland−0.57−1.9
Netherlands0.572.0
Norway1.314.5

Storage

Pumped storage−0.12−0.4

Price per MWh

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

Emissions per kWh

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

Demand

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

Generation

20GW
18GW
16GW
14GW
12GW
10GW
8GW
6GW
4GW
2GW
0GW
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday

Transfers

4GW
3GW
2GW
1GW
0GW
−1GW
−2GW
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Time
Past year
Price
£70.22/MWh
Emissions
123g/kWh
Demand
30.0GW
Generation
26.4GW
Transfers
3.6GW
Generation
26.4GW
88.1%

Generation by type

Fossil fuels8.327.7
Renewables11.638.6
Other sources6.521.8

Generation by source

Coal0.321.1
Gas7.9526.6
Solar1.525.1
Wind9.6032.1
Hydroelectric0.431.4
Nuclear4.4314.8
Biomass2.097.0

Interconnectors

Belgium0.451.5
Denmark0.270.9
France2.277.6
Ireland−0.58−1.9
Netherlands0.180.6
Norway1.003.3

Storage

Pumped storage−0.02−0.1

Price per MWh

£200
£180
£160
£140
£120
£100
£80
£60
£40
£20
£0
13/11/2023
12/02/2024
13/05/2024
12/08/2024

Emissions per kWh

600g
500g
400g
300g
200g
100g
0g
13/11/2023
12/02/2024
13/05/2024
12/08/2024

Demand

40GW
35GW
30GW
25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
−5GW
13/11/2023
12/02/2024
13/05/2024
12/08/2024

Generation

20GW
18GW
16GW
14GW
12GW
10GW
8GW
6GW
4GW
2GW
0GW
13/11/2023
12/02/2024
13/05/2024
12/08/2024

Transfers

4GW
3GW
2GW
1GW
0GW
−1GW
−2GW
13/11/2023
12/02/2024
13/05/2024
12/08/2024
Time
All time
Price
£67.34/MWh
Emissions
270g/kWh
Demand
33.0GW
Generation
31.0GW
Transfers
2.0GW
Generation
31.0GW
94.0%

Generation by type

Fossil fuels15.948.3
Renewables7.322.0
Other sources7.823.6

Generation by source

Coal4.6714.1
Gas11.2834.2
Solar1.083.3
Wind5.7917.6
Hydroelectric0.401.2
Nuclear6.3219.1
Biomass1.484.5

Interconnectors

Belgium0.210.6
Denmark0.020.1
France1.163.5
Ireland−0.16−0.5
Netherlands0.611.8
Norway0.180.5

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

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

Generation

20GW
18GW
16GW
14GW
12GW
10GW
8GW
6GW
4GW
2GW
0GW
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

Transfers

4GW
3GW
2GW
1GW
0GW
−1GW
−2GW
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 9:00am and 9:30am on 21st December 2023 British wind farms averaged a record 21.81GW of generation.

PowerDate first achieved
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 receives over 16,000,000 visits each year, I do accept donations.

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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.