Digital map to unlock grid capacity

National Grid’s Distribution System Operator has launched a new digital plan showing where Britain’s electricity network has spare capacity and where major upgrades will be needed as demand surges.

The 2026 Network Development Plan maps how the distribution grid will evolve to support electric vehicles heat pumps renewable power and wider electrification across its licence areas.

For the first time the data is being published through an interactive online platform rather than static reports.

Users can search by postcode, local authority or Grid Supply Point and move from high level summaries into detailed technical information on constraints, planned investment and available network capacity.

Why cheap power could matter more than clean power in the push for net zero

“I’m an early adopter of new technology,” says Gavin Tait, a 69-year-old from Glasgow, with a hint of pride.

So when he received a lump sum on retirement a decade or so ago, he invested in renewable energy: solar panels on the roof, a home battery and a heat pump. “It seemed like a no-brainer,” he recalls. “I could save money and help the environment – why wouldn’t I?”

At first, it worked. His well-insulated home stayed warm and his energy bills fell. But over the past couple of winters, things began to change. “I noticed my electricity bills were going through the roof,” he says.

This winter, he and his wife switched it off and went back to their gas boiler, which they had kept as a backup.

Gavin – who wrote in to BBC Your Voice about his experiences – says he knows what the problem was. At best gas delivers nearly one unit of heat for each unit of energy put in; his heat pump can deliver up to three or four units of heat for every unit of power. But as heat pumps run on electricity, he is now paying around 27p per kilowatt-hour, compared with less than 6p for gas that powers a boiler – more than four times as much.

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Providers already offer incentives, such as cheaper rates, for customers in Britain to shift their electricity use outside of peak times through a scheme by the National Energy System Operator (NESO).

From this week the Demand Flexibility Scheme will allow them toalso encourage people to increase usage when “weather conditions result in excess supply”.

The change was approved by the industry regulator Ofgem last month, and NESO said it would ensure the system is resilient over the summer, and avoid surplus power being wasted.

Electricity demand is lower in the summer months when the weather is warmer and the days longer, while solar power generation is higher.

NESO said its research indicated low demand was “increasingly driven by weather patterns”, while the growth of “smaller, local electricity generators” is also reducing reliance on large power stations.

Renewables dominate 2025’s newly installed generating capacity

On Wednesday, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) released its numbers on what was built in 2025. And much as we saw in the US, solar power is the primary driver of change. The numbers show that the world installed an average of 1.4 gigawatts of solar capacity every day last year, for a total of 511 GW. That brings the total solar capacity up to 2.4 Terawatts, making it the largest single source of renewable capacity by far, at more than a Terawatt above either wind or hydro.

Obviously, the actual power generated will be less than the rated capacity. And because solar panels have become so cheap, the economics now favor installing panels in areas that get far less sunlight—places in which photovoltaics would have been a questionable decision just five years earlier. So we’re likely to see the energy produced for each unit of capacity (termed the capacity factor) decline over the coming years.

European country vows to give homeowners ‘free electricity’ instead of switching off wind turbines

Europe’s outdated and under-invested energy grid means huge amounts of renewable energy are wasted every year.

The case for renewable energy is stronger than ever, as the war on Iran continues to highlight the dangers of fossil fuel dependency.

While Brent crude, the world benchmark for oil prices, dipped yesterday morning (26 March) amid rising hopes of de-escalation, barrel prices have exceeded $100 (around €86.38) per barrel several times since the conflict began. Before the US-Israel war on Iran, oil prices were under €63 per barrel.

Much of the surge has been blamed on the Strait of Hormuz’s effective closure. This is one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel chokepoints, carrying around one-fifth of global oil supplies.

Analysts warn that oil prices won’t “snap back” straight after the war ends, especially if more energy infrastructure is targeted.

Heat pumps for all new homes and plug-in solar in green tech drive

From 2028, all new homes in England must have solar panels covering 40% of the ground floor and either a heat pump or connection to a heat network. Smaller plug-in solar panels for balconies will soon be sold in UK supermarkets, pending updated safety rules. The measures aim to boost energy security and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, though developers warn of costs and challenges. Scotland already banned gas heating for new homes in 2022.