# UK Power Grid: live snapshot > Current figures for Great Britain's electricity system. Generated at 20:57 GMT on 7 November 2026 and refreshed about once a minute. Every figure is a snapshot, so quote it with its time. ## Generation Page: https://api.ukgrid.info At 20:00 GMT on 7 November 2026, gas was Great Britain's largest source of electricity at 63.7% of the mix. Renewables supplied 13.6%, and low-carbon sources including nuclear 19.9%. - Renewable share of generation: 13.6 % - Low-carbon share of generation: 19.9 % - Gas share of generation: 63.7 % - Nuclear share of generation: 15.1 % - Biomass share of generation: 8.8 % - Imports share of generation: 5.9 % - Wind share of generation: 3.3 % - Other share of generation: 1.7 % - Hydro share of generation: 1.5 % ### Where does Britain's electricity come from? It changes by the hour. On a windy night, wind can be the biggest source. On a still winter evening, it's usually gas. Nuclear ticks along in the background, solar helps when the sun's out, and Britain also imports power through subsea cables. ### Does Britain still burn coal for electricity? No. The last coal plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, shut on 30 September 2024. Coal had been powering Britain since 1882. ### Why does gas still run on windy days? Wind farms and the people using the power often aren't in the same place. If the lines running south from Scotland are full, wind gets turned down there and a gas plant closer to the demand gets switched on instead. Gas can also ramp up quickly when the wind drops. ## Demand Page: https://api.ukgrid.info/demand At 20:50 GMT on 7 November 2026, electricity demand on Great Britain's transmission system was 33,618 MW. Over the previous 24 hours it peaked at 38,684 MW and fell as low as 30,030 MW. - National electricity demand: 33618 MW - 24-hour peak demand: 38684 MW - 24-hour low demand: 30030 MW ### How much electricity does Great Britain use? It depends when you ask. On a cold winter evening, demand on the national grid can top 40 GW. During lockdown in 2020, it fell to around 13.4 GW. ### When is electricity demand highest? Usually early evening, when people get home and start cooking. It's lowest in the small hours. A cold snap pushes the whole day's demand up. ### Why does rooftop solar lower the demand figure? Because the national grid can't see it. Power from a roof gets used in the house or nearby, so all the grid notices is that less electricity is being asked for. That's why a sunny afternoon can look oddly quiet. ## Interconnectors Page: https://api.ukgrid.info/interconnectors In the half hour from 20:00 GMT on 7 November 2026, Great Britain was a net importer of electricity by 902 MW across 10 interconnectors, with 2,196 MW flowing in and 1,294 MW flowing out. - Net interconnector flow, positive when importing: 902 MW - Interconnector imports: 2196 MW - Interconnector exports: 1294 MW ### Does Britain import electricity? Yes, and it exports too. The cables run both ways, and the direction can flip within a day. ### Which countries is Britain connected to? France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark, plus Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. ### Why would Britain export power and import it on the same day? Power goes wherever it's worth more. If it's windy here and prices are low, it tends to head abroad. When the wind drops and prices climb, it tends to come back the other way. ## Prices Page: https://api.ukgrid.info/prices In the half hour from 20:30 GMT on 7 November 2026, the wholesale electricity price in Great Britain was 22.00p/kWh (£220.04/MWh). Over the previous 24 hours it ranged from 16.73p to 28.95p/kWh. This is the market price, not what households pay. - Wholesale electricity price: 220.04 GBP/MWh - 24-hour high wholesale price: 289.46 GBP/MWh - 24-hour low wholesale price: 167.31 GBP/MWh ### Why do electricity prices go negative? It happens when there's more wind and solar than anyone needs. Switching off isn't free: some plants are expensive to stop and restart, and some wind farms lose a subsidy when they aren't generating. So they'd rather pay to keep going. ### What is an Agile tariff? A household tariff from Octopus Energy with a new price every half hour, based on the wholesale market plus other costs. It can get cheap overnight and on windy days, and it costs more on winter evenings. It's the clearest view of what wholesale swings mean for a bill, though most people aren't on it. ### Is the wholesale price what I pay at home? No. Your bill also pays for the network, policy costs, your supplier's costs and VAT, and most tariffs smooth out wholesale costs over months. You'd only see these swings directly on a tariff that tracks half-hourly prices. ### When is wholesale electricity cheapest? Often overnight, or whenever it's windy and sunny. The expensive times tend to be still, cold evenings, when gas has to do most of the work. ## Carbon intensity Page: https://api.ukgrid.info/carbon-intensity In the half hour from 20:00 GMT on 7 November 2026, the carbon intensity of Great Britain's electricity was 268 gCO₂/kWh, rated very high. The cleanest time left today is forecast to be 23:30, at 256 gCO₂/kWh. - Carbon intensity of electricity: 268 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity index: very high ### What is carbon intensity? How much CO₂ was released to make a unit of electricity, in grams per kilowatt-hour. Lower is cleaner. ### When is the greenest time to use electricity? There's no fixed answer, because it follows the weather. Windy spells and overnight hours are often good bets. The forecast on this page picks out the cleanest window for today and the next 48 hours. ### Does shifting when I use electricity make a difference? Yes. The same dishwasher cycle can cause several times the emissions on a still evening as on a windy night. It's most worthwhile for big loads like charging an EV. ## Renewables Page: https://api.ukgrid.info/renewables On 6 November 2026, 1,060 MWh of renewable generation in Great Britain was curtailed, at a cost of £200,846 on provisional figures. At 20:57 GMT on 7 November 2026, metered wind output was 898 MW, 3.0% of connected capacity. - Renewable energy curtailed: 1060 MWh - Cost of curtailment: 200846 GBP - Metered wind output: 898 MW ### What is curtailment? It's when a generator gets told to make less power than it could. With wind, that usually means the turbines could be running, but the network has no room for what they'd produce. ### Why are wind farms paid to switch off? Britain's windiest spots are a long way from most of its demand, and the lines between them fill up. When that happens, the system operator pays wind farms to turn down, then usually pays another generator closer to the demand to fill the gap. ### Who pays for curtailment? Consumers, in the end. The cost goes into network charges, and those end up on energy bills. ## Your area Page: https://api.ukgrid.info/your-area At 20:57 GMT on 7 November 2026, the cleanest electricity in Great Britain was in North Scotland at 0 gCO₂/kWh, and the most carbon-intensive was in South West England at 393 gCO₂/kWh. These are forecasts for the current half hour. - Carbon intensity forecast, North Scotland: 0 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, South Scotland: 0 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, North East England: 2 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, North West England: 62 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, Scotland: 105 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, North Wales & Merseyside: 124 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, Yorkshire: 183 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, England: 270 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, East England: 278 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, West Midlands: 306 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, London: 317 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, East Midlands: 320 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, South East England: 330 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, South England: 347 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, Wales: 392 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, South Wales: 393 gCO2/kWh - Carbon intensity forecast, South West England: 393 gCO2/kWh ### Why is electricity cleaner in Scotland? Mostly because it has a lot of wind and relatively little local demand. Areas that rely more on gas show higher figures. ### Does this mean my power comes from a local wind farm? No. Everything mixes together on the same network, so you can't trace your power back to one wind farm. The figure describes the mix generated and imported in your region. ### Why do you only ask for part of my postcode? The first part is enough to find your region, so we don't ask for the rest. ## Grid health Page: https://api.ukgrid.info/grid-health At 20:55 GMT on 7 November 2026, Great Britain's grid frequency was 50.030 Hz, 0.030 Hz above the 50 Hz target and within the normal range. It spent 100.0% of the last hour within ±0.2 Hz of target. - Grid frequency: 50.03 Hz - Share of the last hour within the normal range: 100 % ### Why does the grid run at 50 Hz? That's the standard Britain's grid and the equipment on it were built for. It also shows how the system's doing: too much demand drags the frequency down, and too much generation pushes it up. ### What is a normal grid frequency? Anywhere within about 0.2 Hz of 50 Hz is routine. The legal limits are 0.5 Hz either side, and the grid rarely gets there. ### What happens if the frequency falls too far? Reserve power kicks in within seconds. If that's not enough, automatic protection cuts off some customers to save the rest of the system. It happened on 9 August 2019: two big generators dropped off, frequency fell below 49 Hz, and more than a million customers lost power. ## Sources and attribution - Contains BMRS data © Elexon Limited copyright and database right 2026. Licence: https://www.elexon.co.uk/data/balancing-mechanism-reporting-agent/copyright-licence-bmrs-data/ - Carbon intensity data from the NESO Carbon Intensity API, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - Not affiliated with or endorsed by Elexon or NESO. 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