Live UK electricity grid map
Britain's grid in real time: exactly what is generating right now, fuel by fuel, and where the power is coming from, from the stations on the map to the subsea cables trading with Europe. Sourced live from the National Energy System Operator's settlement feed via Elexon.
- Grid supplyEverything powering Great Britain right now: all generation, including rooftop and field solar, plus net electricity imported through the subsea cables.
- 24.1GW
- peak today 32.8 GW at 12:00 · NESO forecast peak 36.6 GW (5 Oct), transmission demand
- RenewablesThe share of supply coming from wind, solar and hydro right now. Biomass is counted separately, under low carbon.
- 34.6%
- Low carbonRenewables plus nuclear and biomass: everything generating without burning fossil fuels.
- 51.3%
- Carbon intensityGrams of CO2 emitted for each kilowatt hour generated right now. Below 100 g is very clean; the 2009 average was about 445 g.
- 182gCO₂/kWh · high
- FrequencyThe grid's heartbeat. It must stay very close to 50 Hz; a drifting frequency means supply and demand are out of balance.
- 50.13Hz
- Wholesale priceThe Market Index price: what power actually traded for in the latest half hour on the GB exchanges, volume-weighted.
- £144.47
- market index (MID), period 48 · today's volume-weighted avg £115.87
- Imbalance priceWhat generators and suppliers pay for being out of balance in the most recent settled half hour. The grid's cash penalty price.
- £118.06
- system price (DISEBSP), settled period 47
- Day-ahead powerThe baseload price agreed at auction for power delivered across the day shown. The benchmark most business energy contracts track.
- £154.40
- day-ahead baseload for 2 Oct, per MWh
- Negative price hoursHours this year when the wholesale price fell below zero: windy or sunny periods when supply outstrips demand and generators pay to keep running.
- 171
- in 2026 so far · market index
Automated summaryWritten automatically from the live numbers on this page and refreshed about every 45 minutes.Great Britain's grid is currently drawing 27.76 GW of power, with gas the largest source at 43.6%, low-carbon generation contributing 51.9% (including 37.5% from renewables), carbon intensity at 178 gCO2/kWh, no coal in use, and a small 0.8 GW net import via interconnectors. Wholesale prices are elevated, with the latest market index at £169.74/MWh against a day-ahead baseload of £154.4/MWh and today's average so far of £113.05/MWh.
Forecast margin, next 12h: lowest 6.8 GW de-rated (NESO forecast)NESO's forecast of spare capacity above expected demand over the next 12 hours, after derating plants for reliability. Bigger is more comfortable.
What the power is worth
indicative market value; every figure states its price basisImports costing nowThe live import flow valued at the current market index price: an indication of what buying this power costs per hour.
£116k/hour
0.80 GW at £144.47/MWh market index
Generated yesterday (4 Oct)All of yesterday's metered generation valued flat at that day's stated price basis. An indication of market value, not settlement.
£62m
561 GWh at £110.69/MWh, market index day average
Today so farToday's generation so far, valued at the stated price basis. Updates through the day as half hours publish.
£73m
626 GWh in the first 24 hours at £115.87/MWh, market index day average · embedded solar publishes a few hours behind
What each source earned yesterdayEach fuel's metered output multiplied by the day's price basis. Real revenues differ with contracts and CfDs; see the note below.
- Wind158 GWh£18m
- Gas151 GWh£17m
- Nuclear96 GWh£11m
- Biomass70 GWh£7.7m
- Solar57 GWh£6.3m
- Hydro & storage15 GWh£1.6m
- Other14 GWh£1.5m
Interconnector trade yesterday: imports of 84 GWh cost around £9.3m, exports of 40 GWh earned around £4.4m.
Figures are an indication of market value only: metered volumes (Elexon) multiplied flat by the stated price basis (the day-ahead baseload print for that delivery day where recorded, otherwise the market index). Actual revenues and costs depend on each generator's contracts, Contracts for Difference, within-day prices and balancing charges.
How to read the map
What is powering the grid
Each marker on the map is a fuel type at its flagship site, wind at the Hornsea offshore zone, solar at Cleve Hill in Kent, nuclear at Heysham, gas at Pembroke, biomass at Drax and hydro at Dinorwig, labelled with its live share of the grid. The right-hand panel gives the full breakdown in gigawatts.
Where the power is coming from
The cables on the map are the subsea interconnectors to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Ireland. Each country pin shows the live flow in megawatts: green means power is flowing into Britain, purple means Britain is exporting.
The headline numbers
The purple band at the top tracks national demand, the renewable and low-carbon share, carbon intensity, system frequency and the day-ahead wholesale power price. Everything updates on the grid's own five-minute cadence.
The grid, year by year
The live picture above changes by the minute; the long-term story is just as striking. Pick any year back to 2009 for its full report, or compare the recent mix year on year below. Every yearly report has a permanent citable page and CSV download. The 2026 figures currently run to 3 July.
UK Grid Report
How green was the grid in any year since 2009? Pick a year.
Renewables
41.2%
47.6% incl. biomass
Low carbon
58.7%
Carbon intensity
141 g
per kWh, average
Generation
151 TWh
Coal
0%
4,401 coal-free hours
Peak wind
18.4 GW
Versus 2025: renewables +3.5 points, carbon intensity +14.3 g.
Average wholesale price (market index): £94.22/MWh · negative prices for 101 hours · peak half hour £561/MWh.
- Wind25.9% · 39.06 TWh
- Gas24.9% · 37.54 TWh
- Imports14.5% · 21.95 TWh
- Nuclear11.2% · 16.86 TWh
- Solar7.3% · 11.08 TWh
- Biomass6.4% · 9.62 TWh
- Other1.9% · 2.86 TWh
- Hydro1.2% · 1.79 TWh
- Storage0.5% · 0.8 TWh
UK electricity generation mix
Live grid output
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.
Turn live market data into a better deal
The generation mix on this map drives the wholesale price your business pays. We read this data every day and build procurement strategies around it for businesses across the UK.
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