National Grid: Live

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

Time
7:35pm
Price
£114.27/MWh
Emissions
207g/kWh
Demand
35.0GW
Generation
30.3GW
Transfers
4.7GW

Generation

Generation
30.3GW
86.4%
Note: percentages are relative to demand, so will exceed 100% if power is being exported

46.6% fossil fuels

Gas 16.3146.6

20.8% renewables

Solar 0.000.0
Wind 6.8519.6
Hydroelectric 0.411.2

19.0% other sources

Nuclear 3.459.9
Biomass 3.219.2

11.9% interconnectors

Belgium 1.002.9
Denmark 0.992.8
France 1.002.9
Ireland −0.98−2.8
Netherlands 0.742.1
Norway 1.404.0

1.7% storage

Pumped storage 0.591.7
Battery storage
Time
Past day
Price
£85.53/MWh
Emissions
150g/kWh
Demand
30.8GW
Generation
26.7GW
Transfers
4.1GW
Generation
26.7GW
86.8%

Generation by type

Fossil fuels10.132.7
Renewables10.132.9
Other sources6.521.2

Generation by source

Coal0.000.0
Gas10.0832.7
Solar1.976.4
Wind7.9425.7
Hydroelectric0.230.7
Nuclear3.7312.1
Biomass2.819.1

Interconnectors

Belgium0.842.7
Denmark1.354.4
France0.892.9
Ireland−0.90−2.9
Netherlands0.551.8
Norway1.404.5

Storage

Pumped storage−0.06−0.2

Price per MWh

£200
£180
£160
£140
£120
£100
£80
£60
£40
£20
£0
10:30pm
4:30am
10:30am
4:30pm

Emissions per kWh

600g
500g
400g
300g
200g
100g
0g
10:30pm
4:30am
10:30am
4:30pm

Demand

40GW
35GW
30GW
25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
−5GW
10:30pm
4:30am
10:30am
4:30pm

Generation

20GW
18GW
16GW
14GW
12GW
10GW
8GW
6GW
4GW
2GW
0GW
10:30pm
4:30am
10:30am
4:30pm

Transfers

4GW
3GW
2GW
1GW
0GW
−1GW
−2GW
10:30pm
4:30am
10:30am
4:30pm
Time
Past week
Price
£78.38/MWh
Emissions
110g/kWh
Demand
29.6GW
Generation
25.9GW
Transfers
3.7GW
Generation
25.9GW
87.6%

Generation by type

Fossil fuels7.124.0
Renewables11.940.4
Other sources6.923.3

Generation by source

Coal0.000.0
Gas7.0824.0
Solar1.404.8
Wind10.3234.9
Hydroelectric0.190.7
Nuclear4.4815.2
Biomass2.398.1

Interconnectors

Belgium0.852.9
Denmark0.561.9
France0.973.3
Ireland−0.51−1.7
Netherlands0.481.6
Norway1.374.6

Storage

Pumped storage−0.05−0.2

Price per MWh

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

Emissions per kWh

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

Demand

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

Generation

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

Transfers

4GW
3GW
2GW
1GW
0GW
−1GW
−2GW
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Time
Past year
Price
£70.67/MWh
Emissions
123g/kWh
Demand
29.9GW
Generation
26.3GW
Transfers
3.6GW
Generation
26.3GW
87.9%

Generation by type

Fossil fuels8.327.6
Renewables11.538.5
Other sources6.521.8

Generation by source

Coal0.321.1
Gas7.9426.5
Solar1.515.1
Wind9.5932.0
Hydroelectric0.421.4
Nuclear4.4314.8
Biomass2.107.0

Interconnectors

Belgium0.461.6
Denmark0.291.0
France2.287.6
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
20/11/2023
19/02/2024
20/05/2024
19/08/2024

Emissions per kWh

600g
500g
400g
300g
200g
100g
0g
20/11/2023
19/02/2024
20/05/2024
19/08/2024

Demand

40GW
35GW
30GW
25GW
20GW
15GW
10GW
5GW
0GW
−5GW
20/11/2023
19/02/2024
20/05/2024
19/08/2024

Generation

20GW
18GW
16GW
14GW
12GW
10GW
8GW
6GW
4GW
2GW
0GW
20/11/2023
19/02/2024
20/05/2024
19/08/2024

Transfers

4GW
3GW
2GW
1GW
0GW
−1GW
−2GW
20/11/2023
19/02/2024
20/05/2024
19/08/2024
Time
All time
Price
£67.36/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
Renewables7.322.1
Other sources7.823.6

Generation by source

Coal4.6614.1
Gas11.2734.2
Solar1.083.3
Wind5.8017.6
Hydroelectric0.401.2
Nuclear6.3119.1
Biomass1.484.5

Interconnectors

Belgium0.210.6
Denmark0.020.1
France1.163.5
Ireland−0.16−0.5
Netherlands0.611.8
Norway0.180.6

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

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.