Renewables
Renewable generation includes wind (onshore and offshore), solar, and hydro. Much of Great Britain's solar and onshore wind capacity is 'embedded' in the local distribution network rather than the national transmission network, so it is estimated separately by the NESO Data Portal.
- Current output
- 14.73GW
- Share of generation
- 51.0%
Breakdown
| Source | GW | % |
|---|---|---|
| Wind | 10.33 | 35.8 |
| Solar | 4.19 | 14.5 |
| Hydro | 0.21 | 0.7 |
History
Renewables output
Share of total generation
Renewables output and share of total generation over the selected range.
About renewables
Great Britain's position in the north-east Atlantic, combined with the shallow waters of the North Sea, makes it one of the best locations in the world for wind power. Offshore wind farms off the coasts of England and Scotland are among the largest in the world.
How wind and solar grew
Britain's first commercial wind farm opened at Delabole in Cornwall in 1991, with ten turbines generating a total of 4 megawatts - enough for a few thousand homes. Offshore wind followed in 2000 with a small pilot project off Blyth, Northumberland, but it was the 2000s and 2010s that saw dramatic growth, driven by falling turbine costs, government contracts-for-difference auctions, and a series of ever-larger offshore projects in the North Sea and Irish Sea.
Solar power arrived later at scale. Feed-in tariffs introduced in 2010 triggered a boom in rooftop and field-mounted solar, and continuing cost falls mean solar is now often the cheapest new form of generation to build, even without subsidy.
New wind power records are set regularly. At 5:30pm on 5 December 2025, British wind farms hit a record 23,825MW of generation - at that moment, wind alone was meeting 47.4% of the country's demand.
| Power first achieved | Date |
|---|---|
| 23GW | 5 December 2025 |
| 22GW | 11 November 2025 |
| 21GW | 10 January 2023 |
| 20GW | 2 November 2022 |
| 15GW | 18 December 2018 |
| 10GW | 8 December 2016 |
Source: National Energy System Operator, reported by Edie and Electrek.
Variability
Solar generation follows a strong daily and seasonal cycle, peaking around midday in summer and contributing little overnight or in winter. Wind is more variable on shorter timescales but, because Britain's wind fleet is spread across the whole country and offshore, total output rarely falls to zero - though prolonged calm, high-pressure spells (sometimes called "wind droughts") can still push wind output very low for days at a time, which is when gas and imports pick up the slack.
Records
Hand-curated and checked periodically against the sources below, rather than calculated live from stored history.
- Highest wind generation ever23,880MW - 25 March 2026
- Highest solar generation ever15,427MW - 12 July 2026, late morning
- Renewables' share of annual generation, 202544% - a record year
- First commercial wind farmDelabole, Cornwall, 1991
Sources: National Energy System Operator via Edie (wind) and Solar Power Portal (solar); NESO's 2025 review (annual renewable share). Last checked: 4 September 2026.
Network constraint costs
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Source: NESO Data Portal - Constraint Breakdown Costs and Volume, updated by NESO weekly.