Britain’s electricityy system set new records in 2024, marking yet more milestones in the country’s transition to clean power. Wind and solar generation hit all-time highs, supplying nearly 30% and 5% of the nation’s electricity over the course of the year. Cross-border electricity imports also hit a record high, accounting for 15.7% of the UK’s power supply in 2024.
Carbon emissions from electricity generation fell to a new record low, averaging 121 g/kWh over the year – down from 148 g/kWh in 2023. This was driven by fossil fuel use plummeting, supplying a new low of 27% of annual electricity demand, down from 33% in 2023. Although gas sank to its lowest output over the year, it also generated all-time high outputs on 12 December, during a dunkelflaute event.
The tables below look over the past fifteen years (2009 to 2024) and report the record output and share of electricity generation, plus sustained averages over a day, a month, and a calendar year. Cells highlighted in blue are records that were broken in the fourth quarter of 2024, or during the 2024 calendar year. Each number links to the date it occurred on the Electric Insights website, so these records can be explored visually.
[3] Note that Britain has no inter-seasonal electricity storage, so we only report on half-hourly and daily records. Elexon and National Grid only report the output of large pumped hydro storage plants. The operation of battery, flywheel and other storage sites is not publicly available.