National Grid ESO - Electricity Control Centre Hi Res

Driving towards a sustainable energy future with our final RIIO-2 business plan.

Welcome to National Grid ESO

We make sure that Great Britain has the essential energy it needs by making sure supply meets demand every second of every day. Find out more about what we do and how we keep the lights on for Great Britain.

Find out more

Power cut in your area?

Find out who to contact when there's a power cut

Download our data

Find the latest Firm frequency Response data, BSUOS forecasts, and other daily demand and supply reports.

Download a code

Download code documents like the Grid Code and CUSC and see the latest modifications.

Connect to the grid

Find out about the connections process, roles and responsibilities and other useful resources to understand your connections offer.

ESO : Balancing the grid

A control room monitor with a larger monitor in the background

How we work with the electricity market to balance supply and demand

We make sure the supply of electricity from the market always matches demand. It’s what we call ‘balancing’ the system. Find out our Control Room communicates with the electricity market to do this.

ESO : Our people

A Day in the Life of an EMR Strategy & Policy Manager

How do we manage the capacity market and CfD auctions? Spend a Day in the Life of an EMT Strategy & Policy Manager to find out more.

ESO : Electricity explained

National Grid ESO - Early competition project updates - Sunset

Record-breaking 2020 becomes greenest year for Britain’s electricity

A look back at 2020 - a record-breaking year of progress and challenges for Britain's electricity system.

ESO : Balancing the grid

National Grid ESO - solar panels in a field

Helping generators change their settings to boost network resilience and encourage a zero carbon grid

Loss of Mains changes will boost network resilience, reduce electricity system costs and allow smaller, greener generators to play a greater role in balancing the grid.