UK Electricity Grid Report 2014
In 2014, Great Britain generated 310 TWh of electricity. Coal was the biggest single source at 31.2%. Renewables (wind, solar and hydro) supplied 11.6%, or 11.6% counting biomass, and each unit generated averaged 419gCO₂ per kWh. That made 2014 cleaner than 2013: carbon intensity fell 56.3 g on the year.
Automated summaryIn 2014, Great Britain's electricity grid generated 309.89 TWh, with gas remaining the single largest source at 28% and coal close behind at 31.2%. Nuclear contributed 19.3%, while renewables comprising wind, solar and hydro accounted for 11.6%, with wind alone providing 6.8%. Low carbon sources made up 30.9% of the mix, and the average carbon intensity stood at 418.7 gCO2/kWh. There were no coal-free hours recorded during the year, reflecting coal's continued role in the generation mix.
Renewables share
11.6%
11.6% incl. biomass
Low carbon share
30.9%
renewables + nuclear
Carbon intensity
419 g
per kWh · low 183 g, high 562 g
Generation
310 TWh
incl. estimated embedded wind and solar
Coal share
31.2%
no coal-free hours
Peak wind output
6.8 GW
highest half-hour average
The 2014 generation mix, fuel by fuel
share of GB generation- Coal31.2% · 96.68 TWh
- Gas28% · 86.62 TWh
- Nuclear19.3% · 59.77 TWh
- Imports7.5% · 23.31 TWh
- Wind6.8% · 21.15 TWh
- Other2.4% · 7.47 TWh
- Solar1.3% · 3.91 TWh
- Hydro1.3% · 3.92 TWh
- Storage0.9% · 2.8 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 2014 compares
- Versus 2013: renewables +2.6 points, carbon intensity -56.3 g.
- Versus 2009, the first year on record: renewables up 8.2 points (from 3.4%), and each unit of electricity 5.9% cleaner (445 g to 419 g).
- Explore the neighbouring years: 2013 · 2015 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 2014", purelyenergy.co.uk/grid-report/2014. Derived from NESO historic generation mix data.
2014 grid questions, answered
How green was UK electricity in 2014?
In 2014, wind, solar and hydro supplied 11.6% of GB generation (11.6% including biomass), low-carbon sources supplied 30.9%, and the average carbon intensity was 419 gCO2 per kWh.
What was the biggest source of UK electricity in 2014?
Coal was the largest single source in 2014, supplying 31.2% of GB generation. The full fuel-by-fuel breakdown is on this page.
How much coal did the UK burn for electricity in 2014?
Coal supplied 31.2% of GB generation in 2014 (96.68 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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