UK Electricity Grid Report 2010
In 2010, Great Britain generated 335 TWh of electricity. Gas was the biggest single source at 46.9%. Renewables (wind, solar and hydro) supplied 2.9%, or 2.9% counting biomass, and each unit generated averaged 462gCO₂ per kWh. Carbon intensity rose 16.7 g on 2009, one of the occasional backwards steps in an otherwise falling series.
Automated summaryIn 2010, Great Britain's electricity grid remained heavily reliant on fossil fuels, with gas the largest single source at 46.9% of generation and coal contributing a further 30.7%, resulting in no coal-free hours across the year. Total generation reached 335.18 TWh, while low carbon sources accounted for 20.4% of the mix, driven largely by nuclear at 17.5%. Renewables including biomass supplied just 2.9%, with wind contributing only 1.1%. Reflecting this fossil-dominated system, the average carbon intensity stood at 461.5 gCO2/kWh.
Renewables share
2.9%
2.9% incl. biomass
Low carbon share
20.4%
renewables + nuclear
Carbon intensity
462 g
per kWh · low 276 g, high 592 g
Generation
335 TWh
incl. estimated embedded wind and solar
Coal share
30.7%
no coal-free hours
Peak wind output
2.1 GW
highest half-hour average
The 2010 generation mix, fuel by fuel
share of GB generation- Gas46.9% · 157.08 TWh
- Coal30.7% · 102.84 TWh
- Nuclear17.5% · 58.51 TWh
- Imports2.1% · 6.88 TWh
- Wind1.1% · 3.68 TWh
- Storage0.9% · 3.12 TWh
- Hydro0.6% · 2.14 TWh
Electricity supplied, 2009 to 2026
TWh per year, generation basis incl. estimated embedded wind and solar- 2009329 TWh
- 2010335 TWh
- 2011322 TWh
- 2012324 TWh
- 2013322 TWh
- 2014310 TWh
- 2015305 TWh
- 2016303 TWh
- 2017301 TWh
- 2018298 TWh
- 2019292 TWh
- 2020276 TWh
- 2021285 TWh
- 2022290 TWh
- 2023275 TWh
- 2024281 TWh
- 2025289 TWh
- 2026151 TWh
Britain supplies markedly less electricity than it did in 2009, even as the economy has grown: efficiency, LED lighting and offshored industry all pushed demand down while the mix decarbonised.
How 2010 compares
- Versus 2009: renewables -0.5 points, carbon intensity +16.7 g.
- Versus 2009, the first year on record: renewables up -0.5 points (from 3.4%), and each unit of electricity -3.8% cleaner (445 g to 462 g).
- Explore the neighbouring years: 2009 · 2011 or the full year-by-year table.
Cite this report
You are welcome to reuse the figures on this page with a link back. Suggested citation:
Purely Energy, "UK Electricity Grid Report 2010", purelyenergy.co.uk/grid-report/2010. Derived from NESO historic generation mix data.
2010 grid questions, answered
How green was UK electricity in 2010?
In 2010, wind, solar and hydro supplied 2.9% of GB generation (2.9% including biomass), low-carbon sources supplied 20.4%, and the average carbon intensity was 462 gCO2 per kWh.
What was the biggest source of UK electricity in 2010?
Gas was the largest single source in 2010, supplying 46.9% of GB generation. The full fuel-by-fuel breakdown is on this page.
How much coal did the UK burn for electricity in 2010?
Coal supplied 30.7% of GB generation in 2010 (102.84 TWh), and the grid ran coal-free for 0 hours.
Use the data
Every figure on this page, as a CSV you can drop into a spreadsheet.
Basis: NESO historic generation mix (GB transmission generation plus estimated embedded wind and solar), aggregated by calendar year, energy-weighted. Renewables is NESO's wind + solar + hydro measure; the biomass-inclusive share is shown alongside. See the live version of this data on our real-time grid map and today's prices on wholesale market data.
Data comes from the Elexon Insights Solution (BMRS), the NESO Data Portal and the Carbon Intensity API, a project by the National Energy System Operator and the University of Oxford Department of Computer Science. Contains BMRS data © Elexon Limited copyright and database right 2026.
Energy decisions for the grid of 2026
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