On Wednesday 22nd April 2026, something remarkable happened – and most people didn’t even notice.
At around 3pm, Great Britain’s electricity system was running on 98.8% low-carbon energy. Gas generation dropped to just 1.2% of the mix, while wind alone provided over 50% of the country’s electricity. But this wasn’t just an energy milestone – it offers a clear glimpse into the future of UK electricity prices, and how you can position yourself to benefit.
What actually happened?
At the peak, the energy mix looked like this:
In simple terms, almost the entire country was being powered without fossil fuels. But this wasn’t random. It was the result of a very specific set of weather conditions aligning.
You see, it’s all about the weather. The GB energy mix has seen a remarkable transformation over the past ~15 years, with huge amounts of wind and solar capacity being added to the grid. Since 2010, wind capacity has grown by around 5-6x, while solar has grown by over 100x!
Most of the growth in wind capacity has been in offshore wind – wind farms out at sea and often below the horizon – so many people are not even aware they exist. Meanwhile, solar went from irrelevant in 2010 to now being system-critical and a fundamental part of the energy mix in the spring and summer.
The total amount added since 2010 is approximately 40GW, which is more than the entire peak demand of the UK on some days. Effectively, an entirely new electricity system powered by the weather has been built.
The weather made it possible
This kind of event doesn’t happen by accident. The UK had a classic springtime weather pattern:
- High pressure centred over and just north of the UK.
- A steady easterly airflow across much of the country.
- Sunny skies nationwide during the day.
Such a combination is rare, and meant two important things:
- Strong offshore wind generation (thanks to the easterly airflow in the North Sea).
- High solar output in the middle of the day.
- Also – PV solar panels are more efficient in the spring (and this is the time of year when generation records tend to be broken), because they don’t heat up as much as in the summer.
At the same time, demand was relatively low – typical for springtime, with no winter heating and no summer cooling. Very pleasant weather!
Everything lined up.
Why this matters (and why it’s not just a one-off)
It would be easy to dismiss this as a rare, “perfect conditions” event. And for now, it is. But more and more renewable capacity is added to the grid every month, with both wind and solar capacity continuing to grow rapidly. Days like this will become more common in the future.
What this day shows is not just what’s possible with the current electricity mix – it shows how the electricity system is changing. We’re moving from a system that was once predictable (driven by oil, coal and gas prices and global demand)… to one that is increasingly driven by the weather.
Energy is now becoming more volatile. For decades, we burned fossil fuels when we needed power. Supply followed demand and that was that. But now, things are changing. Wind and solar don’t generate electricity when we want them to – they generate when conditions allow. This shift is crucial for understanding the future of UK electricity prices, which will increasingly be driven by weather patterns rather than fuel markets. This also helps explain why your energy bills may become more variable in the years ahead.
That means:
- Sometimes we’ll have more electricity than we need.
- Sometimes we’ll have less than we’d like.
And this has a direct impact on electricity prices (making them more volatile).
The solution – batteries (and interconnectors)
You can see from the NESO tweet that batteries supplied almost 1% of GB electricity demand at the time of the record. That’s very impressive – likely discharging stored energy from the record-breaking high solar generation earlier in the day.
UK battery storage capacity is experiencing explosive growth, increasing by at least 509% since 2020 (and likely more since the quoted article is from September 2025). There’s also a future technology space here, with bidirectional electric vehicle batteries able to charge and discharge on command. Only a few high-end EVs have this capability at present, but there is the potential to use plugged-in EVs as a “community battery” that can supply power back to the grid when it is needed most.
Meanwhile, interconnectors are large sub-sea cables that transfer enormous amounts of electricity between countries. Great Britain currently has nine (though with plans to build up to eighteen by 2032), connecting GB to France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Norway and Denmark.
Because interconnectors allow the large-scale flow of electricity between countries, they allow electricity generation from the variable nature of the weather to be spread out more evenly. For example, when it’s cloudy and calm in the UK (in winter, under a high pressure area, for example), nearby countries which have sunnier, breezier conditions, can export their electricity to us. Batteries help to smooth out solar and wind supply, charging from the grid when electricity is cheap (such as in the middle of the day), and discharging when it’s expensive (during the morning and evenings).
What this means for your energy bills
This is where it becomes relevant to you. As the grid becomes more dependent on renewable energy, electricity prices will become more variable throughout the day. In practical terms, this means:
- Electricity may be very cheap (or even effectively free) during periods of high renewable generation.
- Prices may still spike when supply is tight.
In other words, electricity is becoming cheaper when it’s abundant – and more expensive when it’s scarce.
We’re already seeing the early signs of this with smart tariffs, and this is where things get interesting. Most people will experience this change passively – they’ll simply pay whatever their tariff charges them. But those who pay attention can benefit. Because in a system like this, when you use electricity starts to matter just as much as how much you use.
A few simple examples:
- Charging an EV overnight on a cheap tariff.
- Running appliances during sunny midday periods.
- Avoiding peak evening demand windows.
These are small changes, but over time, they can significantly reduce your energy costs – assuming you are on a smart tariff, of course!
How to actually benefit from this shift
While you don’t need to overhaul your life, it’s worth starting to think differently about energy.
- Be aware of when electricity is likely to be cheapest and most expensive.
- Consider tariffs that reward flexible usage.
- If you have an EV (or plan to), think about charging habits.
- Keep an eye on how the system evolves.
Final thoughts
The (almost) 100% low-carbon day on 22nd April wasn’t just a record, but a sign of things to come. The future of UK energy is cleaner, more flexible and increasingly shaped by the weather. And while that introduces complexity, it also creates opportunity. Because in a world where energy costs vary throughout the day, the people who benefit most won’t necessarily be those who use the least electricity – but those who use it at the right time.
I hope you enjoyed this article. Here are some others that may be of interest:
- EVs are cleaner than you think
- Are there enough EV chargers in the UK in 2026?
- Overconsumption: Why We Consume Too Much
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