---
language:
- en
license: odc-by
pretty_name: UK Electricity Generation Mix & Carbon Intensity (2019–2026)
size_categories:
- 100K<n<1M
task_categories:
- time-series-forecasting
- tabular-regression
tags:
- energy
- electricity
- power-generation
- carbon-intensity
- renewables
- wind-power
- solar-power
- nuclear-power
- gas
- coal
- biomass
- hydro
- uk
- great-britain
- climate
- net-zero
- grid
- timeseries
- tabular
- pandas
- duckdb
source_datasets:
- original
configs:
- config_name: default
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: "neso-uk-electricity-generation-mix-2019-2026.parquet"
---

# UK Electricity Generation Mix & Carbon Intensity (2019–2026)

Half-hourly electricity generation by fuel type and carbon intensity for Great Britain, sourced from the [NESO (National Energy System Operator) Data Portal](https://www.neso.energy/data-portal/historic-generation-mix/historic_gb_generation_mix). Update dataset can be found daily at - Update: 'https://github.com/rifkiamil/neso-uk-electricity-generation-mix-daily-update'


## Key Facts

| | |
|---|---|
| **Time range** | 2019-01-01 00:00 → 2026-03-19 21:30 (UTC) |
| **Granularity** | 30-minute intervals |
| **Records** | 126,476 |
| **Format** | Parquet (7 MB) + per-year CSV |
| **Source** | NESO Historic GB Generation Mix |
| **License** | Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By) |

## Column Reference

### Generation by Fuel Type (MW)

| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| `DATETIME` | Timestamp in UTC (ISO 8601) |
| `GAS` | Gas-fired generation (MW) |
| `COAL` | Coal-fired generation (MW) |
| `NUCLEAR` | Nuclear generation (MW) |
| `WIND` | Metered wind generation (MW) |
| `WIND_EMB` | Embedded (non-metered) wind generation (MW) |
| `HYDRO` | Hydro generation (MW) |
| `SOLAR` | Solar generation (MW) |
| `BIOMASS` | Biomass generation (MW) |
| `STORAGE` | Storage output (MW) |
| `IMPORTS` | Interconnector imports (MW) |
| `OTHER` | Other fuel types (MW) |

### Aggregated Totals (MW)

| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| `GENERATION` | Total generation — sum of all fuel types |
| `FOSSIL` | Fossil generation (gas + coal) |
| `RENEWABLE` | Renewable generation (wind + hydro + solar) |
| `LOW_CARBON` | Low-carbon generation (renewables + nuclear + biomass) |
| `ZERO_CARBON` | Zero-carbon generation (renewables + nuclear) |
| `CARBON_INTENSITY` | Carbon intensity of electricity (gCO₂/kWh) |

## Use Cases

- **Energy forecasting** — predict electricity demand and generation by source
- **Carbon intensity modelling** — forecast grid carbon intensity for demand-response optimisation
- **Renewable energy analysis** — track growth trends in wind, solar, and other renewables over time
- **Grid balancing research** — study supply/demand patterns at half-hourly resolution
- **Policy evaluation** — measure the impact of UK energy policy on the generation mix and decarbonisation progress
- **Climate & sustainability reporting** — calculate emissions factors from real generation data

## Data Source & Attribution

Data published by the **National Energy System Operator (NESO)** under the Open Data Commons Attribution License.

- Portal: [Historic GB Generation Mix](https://www.neso.energy/data-portal/historic-generation-mix/historic_gb_generation_mix)
- API: `https://api.neso.energy/api/3/action/datastore_search_sql`