UK Electricity Grid Report 2011
In 2011, Great Britain generated 322 TWh of electricity. Gas was the biggest single source at 39.4%. Renewables (wind, solar and hydro) supplied 5.7%, or 5.7% counting biomass, and each unit generated averaged 450gCO₂ per kWh. That made 2011 cleaner than 2010: carbon intensity fell 11.8 g on the year.
Automated summaryIn 2011, Great Britain's electricity grid was dominated by fossil fuels, with gas providing 39.4% of the 322.33 TWh generated and coal contributing a further 32.1%, resulting in no coal-free hours across the year. Low carbon sources accounted for 25.8% of supply, of which nuclear made up 20.1%, while renewables including wind, solar, hydro and biomass together delivered 5.7%, with wind alone at 3%. The average carbon intensity stood at 449.7 gCO2/kWh, reflecting the continued reliance on coal and gas for the majority of generation.
Renewables share
5.7%
5.7% incl. biomass
Low carbon share
25.8%
renewables + nuclear
Carbon intensity
450 g
per kWh · low 226 g, high 613 g
Generation
322 TWh
incl. estimated embedded wind and solar
Coal share
32.1%
no coal-free hours
Peak wind output
3.3 GW
highest half-hour average
The 2011 generation mix, fuel by fuel
share of GB generation- Gas39.4% · 127.06 TWh
- Coal32.1% · 103.39 TWh
- Nuclear20.1% · 64.77 TWh
- Wind3% · 9.72 TWh
- Imports2.7% · 8.6 TWh
- Hydro1.1% · 3.7 TWh
- Storage0.9% · 2.92 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 2011 compares
- Versus 2010: renewables +2.8 points, carbon intensity -11.8 g.
- Versus 2009, the first year on record: renewables up 2.3 points (from 3.4%), and each unit of electricity -1.1% cleaner (445 g to 450 g).
- Explore the neighbouring years: 2010 · 2012 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 2011", purelyenergy.co.uk/grid-report/2011. Derived from NESO historic generation mix data.
2011 grid questions, answered
How green was UK electricity in 2011?
In 2011, wind, solar and hydro supplied 5.7% of GB generation (5.7% including biomass), low-carbon sources supplied 25.8%, and the average carbon intensity was 450 gCO2 per kWh.
What was the biggest source of UK electricity in 2011?
Gas was the largest single source in 2011, supplying 39.4% of GB generation. The full fuel-by-fuel breakdown is on this page.
How much coal did the UK burn for electricity in 2011?
Coal supplied 32.1% of GB generation in 2011 (103.39 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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