National Grid: Live
The National Grid is the electric power transmission network for Great Britain
- Time
- 11:40am
- Price
- £124.00/MWh
- Emissions
- 136g/kWh
- Demand
- 33.1GW
- Generation
- 26.7GW
- Transfers
- 6.4GW
Generation
31.2% fossil fuels
| Coal | 0.00 | 0.0 | |
| Gas | 10.34 | 31.2 |
30.7% renewables
| Solar | 5.24 | 15.8 | |
| Wind | 4.82 | 14.5 | |
| Hydroelectric | 0.11 | 0.3 |
18.8% other sources
| Nuclear | 5.26 | 15.9 | |
| Biomass | 0.76 | 2.3 | |
| Other | 0.22 | 0.7 |
19.3% transfers
Imports and exports
| Belgium | 1.00 | 3.0 | |
| France | 3.98 | 12.0 | |
| Ireland | −0.98 | −3.0 | |
| Netherlands | 1.00 | 3.0 | |
| Norway | 1.30 | 3.9 |
Storage
| Pumped storage | 0.09 | 0.3 |
Past day
Past week
Past year
All time
- Time
- Past day
- Price
- £84.37/MWh
- Emissions
- 138g/kWh
- Demand
- 27.3GW
- Generation
- 23.3GW
- Transfers
- 4.0GW
Generation by type
| Fossil fuels | 9.1 | 33.2 | |
| Renewables | 8.0 | 29.4 | |
| Other sources | 6.2 | 22.8 |
Generation by source
| Coal | 0.00 | 0.0 | |
| Gas | 9.07 | 33.2 | |
| Solar | 2.36 | 8.6 | |
| Wind | 5.52 | 20.2 | |
| Hydroelectric | 0.14 | 0.5 | |
| Nuclear | 5.24 | 19.2 | |
| Biomass | 0.75 | 2.7 | |
| Other | 0.23 | 0.8 |
Imports and exports
| Belgium | 0.41 | 1.5 | |
| France | 3.36 | 12.3 | |
| Ireland | −0.92 | −3.4 | |
| Netherlands | 0.05 | 0.2 | |
| Norway | 1.07 | 3.9 |
Storage
| Pumped storage | 0.02 | 0.1 |
Price per MWh
Emissions per kWh
Demand
Generation
Transfers
- Time
- Past week
- Price
- £52.25/MWh
- Emissions
- 118g/kWh
- Demand
- 25.9GW
- Generation
- 21.6GW
- Transfers
- 4.3GW
Generation by type
| Fossil fuels | 7.5 | 29.1 | |
| Renewables | 8.0 | 30.8 | |
| Other sources | 6.1 | 23.5 |
Generation by source
| Coal | 0.00 | 0.0 | |
| Gas | 7.49 | 29.1 | |
| Solar | 3.00 | 11.6 | |
| Wind | 4.83 | 18.7 | |
| Hydroelectric | 0.12 | 0.5 | |
| Nuclear | 5.25 | 20.4 | |
| Biomass | 0.62 | 2.4 | |
| Other | 0.19 | 0.7 |
Imports and exports
| Belgium | 0.42 | 1.6 | |
| France | 3.14 | 12.2 | |
| Ireland | −0.85 | −3.3 | |
| Netherlands | 0.23 | 0.9 | |
| Norway | 1.27 | 4.9 |
Storage
| Pumped storage | 0.06 | 0.2 |
Price per MWh
Emissions per kWh
Demand
Generation
Transfers
- Time
- Past year
- Price
- £174.53/MWh
- Emissions
- 175g/kWh
- Demand
- 30.0GW
- Generation
- 29.4GW
- Transfers
- 0.6GW
Generation by type
| Fossil fuels | 12.5 | 41.6 | |
| Renewables | 10.4 | 34.8 | |
| Other sources | 6.5 | 21.7 |
Generation by source
| Coal | 0.35 | 1.2 | |
| Gas | 12.12 | 40.4 | |
| Solar | 1.38 | 4.6 | |
| Wind | 8.71 | 29.1 | |
| Hydroelectric | 0.36 | 1.2 | |
| Nuclear | 4.61 | 15.4 | |
| Biomass | 1.59 | 5.3 | |
| Other | 0.30 | 1.0 |
Imports and exports
| Belgium | 0.10 | 0.3 | |
| France | −0.31 | −1.0 | |
| Ireland | −0.05 | −0.2 | |
| Netherlands | 0.26 | 0.9 | |
| Norway | 0.54 | 1.8 |
Storage
| Pumped storage | 0.01 | 0.0 |
Price per MWh
Emissions per kWh
Demand
Generation
Transfers
- Time
- All time
- Price
- £66.72/MWh
- Emissions
- 286g/kWh
- Demand
- 33.5GW
- Generation
- 31.7GW
- Transfers
- 1.8GW
Generation by type
| Fossil fuels | 16.8 | 50.1 | |
| Renewables | 6.8 | 20.4 | |
| Other sources | 8.1 | 24.0 |
Generation by source
| Coal | 5.19 | 15.5 | |
| Gas | 11.63 | 34.6 | |
| Solar | 1.01 | 3.0 | |
| Wind | 5.42 | 16.2 | |
| Hydroelectric | 0.41 | 1.2 | |
| Nuclear | 6.54 | 19.5 | |
| Biomass | 1.44 | 4.3 | |
| Other | 0.08 | 0.3 |
Imports and exports
| Belgium | 0.19 | 0.6 | |
| France | 1.06 | 3.2 | |
| Ireland | −0.12 | −0.3 | |
| Netherlands | 0.67 | 2.0 | |
| Norway | 0.08 | 0.2 |
Storage
| Pumped storage | −0.03 | −0.1 |
Price per MWh
Emissions per kWh
Demand
Generation
Transfers
The decline of coal
The world’s first coal-fired power station, at 57 Holborn Viaduct in London, started producing power on 12th January 1882, lighting the surrounding streets and local buildings through 968 incandescent lamps. Coal fuelled the industrial revolution, and by 1900 Great Britain was mining 250,000,000 tonnes of coal every year.
Over time the negative environmental impacts of coal burning became an increasing problem, and in 2001 the European Union issued the Large Combustion Plant Directive, obliging power stations to limit their emissions or close by 2015.
As a result, nine coal-fired power stations closed between 2012 and 2015. Great Britain’s largest power station, Drax, has been converted to burn wood pellets imported from North America (categorised as biomass in the data above).
On 21st April 2015 Great Britain went a full day without any power generation from coal, and between 1st May and 8th May 2019 a week passed without power generation from coal.
The ascent of wind
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 6:30pm and 7:00pm on 10th January 2023 British wind farms averaged a record 21.69GW of generation.
| Power | Date first achieved |
|---|---|
| 21GW | 10th January 2023 |
| 20GW | 2nd November 2022 |
Data sources
Most data comes from the Balancing Mechanism Reporting System and is updated at five minute intervals. Embedded solar and wind data comes from National Grid ESO and is updated at half hour intervals. Emissions data comes from the Carbon Intensity project by the National Grid and the University Of Oxford Department Of Computer Science, and is updated at half hour intervals.