Britain’s electricity system breaks zero-carbon record, as gas reaches historic low and solar hits historic high

24 April
Press release Future energy 24 Apr 2026
Solar panel installation on factory roof

Key facts
NESO makes history by running Britain’s electricity grid at 98.8% zero-carbon for a short period, underscoring the resilience of the country’s energy system
Gas reaches historic low of 1.2% of the energy mix at both the transmission and distribution levels on same day
Solar power hits two maximum records in as many days, reaching 15.4 GW for the first time

Great Britain’s National Energy System Operator (NESO) has made history by running the country’s electricity grid at 98.8% zero-carbon for a short period, underscoring the resilience of the country’s energy system.

NESO ran the transmission network with a record high of 98.8% zero carbon sources between 15:30 and 16:00 on 22 April - surpassing the previous zero-carbon record of 97.7%, set on 1 April 2025. 

On the same day gas reached an historic low of 1.2% of the energy mix at both the transmission and distribution levels. It means zero-carbon energy sources were producing enough electricity on the transmission network to power nearly all 28 million homes and 5 million businesses across the country.

Meanwhile, solar has hit two maximum records consecutively in as many days. On 22 April between 12:30 and 13:00 distribution-connected solar generated a high of 14.8 gigawatts (GW). This was exceeded between 12:30-13:00 on 23 April to reach 15.4 GW. The previous maximum record was 14.4 GW reached earlier this month (7 April).

The records come four weeks after Britain smashed the wind record, when the other leading renewable source generated 23.9 GW of electricity (25 March).

Kayte O’Neill, Chief Operating Officer at National Energy System Operator (NESO), said:

This world-leading zero-carbon record underlines the resilience of Britain’s national electricity system, which is again showing it can be run safely and securely on large quantities of homegrown renewables.

“With more and more solar and wind records being broken, you can now be more confident than ever that when you turn on the washing machine or power up your laptop, that it’s likely being powered by clean green electricity.  

“Hitting 98.8% zero-carbon really shows what is possible, and I look forward to seeing if we can break the ultimate record of running Britain’s electricity grid entirely zero carbon in the months ahead.

Energy Minister, Michael Shanks, said:

We are hitting records left, right and centre as we accelerate towards clean power.

"Every single time we smash another record for renewable energy we are protecting the British public more from fossil fuel price spikes and taking back control of our energy security at home

2025 saw renewables (solar, wind, hydro and biomass) produce a record 44% of Britain’s electricity – up from just 3% in the year 2000. Solar was the biggest success story of the year, seeing the biggest single rise (6.5% across the year) – up nearly a third on 2024, thanks to 2025 officially being the UK's sunniest year on record. 

Britain now has five of the largest wind farms in the world off its shores. The UK Government aims to double onshore wind and quadruple offshore wind by 2030 as part of its plan for clean power. And by the end of the decade, it hopes the country will have two and half times more solar power powering its homes and businesses.

In 2024 Britain became one of the only countries in the world to entirely stop using coal to generate electricity – the first time since the 1880s. As recently as 2013, it was responsible for generating 40% of our electricity.

ENDS

About NESO

NESO is Britain’s National Energy System Operator. We operate today’s electricity system and design tomorrow’s energy system.

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Notes to editors:

  • At the time of the zero-carbon record, 50.1% of our transmission-connected electricity came from wind, 34.4% came from nuclear, 9.8% came from biomass, 2.2% from solar, 1.5% from hydro, 1.2% from gas and 0.8% from batteries. 
  • Download NESO’s carbon intensity app to see real time generation stats and records as we get closer to operating a zero-carbon electricity system.