United Kingdom
GBRWind overtook nuclear on United Kingdom's grid in 2019.
Today wind supplies 29% and nuclear 12%.
What this grid depends on
Three measures that say more about a country than how much power it makes. Open “what this means” on any of them if the term is new.
Cleaner than 7 in 10 grids worldwide.
What this means
How much planet-warming gas is released to make one unit of electricity. Two countries can generate exactly the same amount and one of them be ten times dirtier doing it. Lower is better.
United Kingdom buys in more electricity than it sends out.
What this means
The share of the electricity used here that was generated abroad and carried in over high-voltage lines. The higher it climbs, the more this country relies on a neighbour to keep its lights on.
A mix of fuel produced at home and fuel bought in.
What this means
How much of what this grid runs on the country can supply itself. Sun, wind and water count fully, because nobody can cut them off; coal, gas and oil only as far as the country digs them up. A high score is not the same as a good grid: mining your own coal scores well, importing uranium scores badly.
Also true of United Kingdom
United Kingdom has taken the carbon out of its electricity fast.
398 grams of CO2e a kilowatt-hour in 2015, 217 in 2025.
United Kingdom has no dominant fuel at all.
Its largest single source supplies just 31% of the grid.
United Kingdom is third in Europe for how much electricity it makes.
292 TWh a year.
United Kingdom’s neighbours
IrelandIreland is among the world's biggest wind and solar producers and still burns fossil fuels for most of its power.
NetherlandsThe Netherlands has taken the carbon out of its electricity fast.
BelgiumBelgium gets next to none of its electricity from hydro, in a region built on it.
DenmarkDenmark is first in the world for wind.
LuxembourgWind overtook bioenergy on Luxembourg's grid in 2023.
Figures are for 2025, the most recent year reported for United Kingdom. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.