Electricity balance
Generation mix
View data
| Group | Source | Generation | Share of generation |
|---|
Notes
Waiting for the generation feeds.
- Generation
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- Embedded wind & solar
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- Transfers
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- Carbon intensity
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- Wholesale price
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Figures cover Great Britain. Northern Ireland is part of the separate all-Ireland electricity market. Times use Europe/London, including clock changes.
Demand is an estimate: domestic generation plus signed interconnector flows and pumped storage. Imports and storage discharge add supply; exports and pumping subtract from it. Raw Elexon pumped-storage readings already include pumping. Battery data is not included in this feed.
Elexon metered output is published every five minutes. NESO embedded wind and solar are half-hourly estimates. Different feed cadences make the equation an estimate; rounded values can differ by 0.1 GW.
Both rings show domestic generation, excluding imports and storage. The inner ring groups fuels; the outer ring shows each source. Biomass is grouped under Other alongside nuclear in this tracker. Other methodologies class biomass as renewable; Other does not mean zero-carbon.
Carbon intensity comes from the NESO and University of Oxford API; forecasts fill gaps where measured intensity is unavailable. Wholesale prices use the Elexon APX market index, with N2EX as a fallback.
Generation over time
Last 30 days
Notes
Average published shares, including imports and storage. The rings above show domestic generation only. Hydro & storage includes NESO’s Other category.
Last 12 months
Notes
Average published shares, including imports and storage. The rings above show domestic generation only. Hydro & storage includes NESO’s Other category.
Since 2009
Notes
Average published shares, including imports and storage. The rings above show domestic generation only. Hydro & storage includes NESO’s Other category.
Wholesale electricity price
Notes
The APX market index is used where available, otherwise N2EX. These are wholesale market readings, separate from the balancing price. Published generation totals cannot identify a single price-setting generator.
Energy price cap
October to December 2026Typical annual bill
£1,723/yearUp 4% on the previous quarter| Energy | Unit rate | Standing charge |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | 26.32p/kWh | 54.83p/day |
| Gas | 7.97p/kWh | 29.68p/day |
Your bill depends on how much energy you use.
Price cap history
Notes
Direct debit averages for England, Scotland and Wales, set quarterly by Ofgem. Gas includes 5% VAT; electricity carries no VAT from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027.
The £1,723 headline uses Ofgem's typical-use figures from 1 July 2026: 2,500 kWh electricity and 9,500 kWh gas a year. The history chart uses the previous figures to keep recent quarters comparable; the same current cap is £1,935 on that basis.
The cap peaked at £4,279 in January to March 2023. Bars before October 2023 use older, higher typical-use figures, marked by a dashed line. Part of the drop into that quarter reflects changed assumptions.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the energy price cap right now?
From 1 October to 31 December 2026 the Ofgem price cap is £1,723 a year for a typical dual-fuel household paying by direct debit, up 4% on the previous quarter. Electricity is capped at an average 26.32p/kWh with a 54.83p daily standing charge, with no VAT until 31 March 2027, and gas at 7.97p/kWh with a 29.68p daily standing charge.
Why is UK electricity so expensive?
The wholesale electricity price is set by the most expensive generator needed to meet demand, which is usually gas. This means UK electricity bills rise and fall with global gas prices, even when most power comes from renewables.
Does the price cap limit my total energy bill?
No. The cap limits the price per unit of gas and electricity plus the daily standing charge, not the overall bill. The headline annual figure quoted in the news is what a household with typical energy use would pay - using more energy still costs more.
How is electricity generated in the UK?
Great Britain's electricity comes from a shifting mix of gas, wind, nuclear, solar, biomass, hydro and imports through interconnectors. The shares change hour by hour with weather and demand, which is what the live generation mix on this page shows.