National Grid Home Assistant Integration

Custom component providing information about the UK National Grid. Provides generation data, forecast data and more from the official endorsed APIs of the UK power network.

This integration is in no way affiliated with or approved by the National Grid.

Installation

There are two methods of setting up the integration: Either using HACS or manually.

HACS

This integration can be added through HACS, this is the easiest and recommended method.

1. Add the repository to HACS
2. Click 'Add' in the prompt
3. Once redirected click 'Download' in the bottom right

Manual

1. Download the current repo
2. Place the contents of custom_components into the /config/custom_components folder of your Home Assistant installation

Note: A restart will be required for the integration to be registered.

Setup

Follow the same steps that are using to setup most integrations:

1. Head to settings then Devices & Services
2. Click 'Add Integration' in the bottom right
3. Search for 'National Grid'
4. Click 'National Grid'
5. Your device and entities will be created

Sensors

Name	ID	Description
National Grid Current Sell Price (optional)	sensor.national_grid_current_sell_price	Current balancing price of Grid
National Grid Current Grid Frequency	sensor.national_grid_current_grid_frequency	Current Grid Frequency (every 5 minutes)
National Grid Today Wind Peak	sensor.national_grid_today_wind_peak	Estimated peak wind production of Grid today
National Grid Today Wind Peak Time	sensor.national_grid_today_wind_peak_time	Estimated time of peak wind production of Grid today
National Grid Tomorrow Wind Peak	sensor.national_grid_tomorrow_wind_peak	Estimated peak wind production of Grid tomorrow
National Grid Tomorrow Wind Peak Time	sensor.national_grid_tomorrow_wind_peak_time	Estimated time of peak wind production of Grid tomorrow
National Grid Grid Generation Gas MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_gas_mwh	Current electricity generation from gas in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Oil MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_oil_mwh	Current electricity generation from oil in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Coal MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_coal_mwh	Current electricity generation from coal in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Biomass MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_biomass_mwh	Current electricity generation from biomass in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Nuclear MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_nuclear_mwh	Current electricity generation from nuclear in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Wind MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_wind_mwh	Current electricity generation from wind in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Solar MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_solar_mwh	Current electricity generation from solar in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Pumped Storage MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_pumped_storage_mwh	Current electricity generation from pumped storage in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Hydro MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_hydro_mwh	Current electricity generation from hydro in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Other MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_other_mwh	Current electricity generation from other / unknown sources in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation France MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_france_mwh	Current electricity generation from France interconnectors in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Ireland MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_ireland_mwh	Current electricity generation from Ireland interconnectors in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Netherlands MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_netherlands_mwh	Current electricity generation from Netherlands interconnectors in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Belgium MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_belgium_mwh	Current electricity generation from France interconnectors in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation France MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_france_mwh	Current electricity generation from Belgium interconnectors in MWh
National Grid Grid Generation Norway MWh	sensor.national_grid_grid_generation_norway_mwh	Current electricity generation from Norway interconnectors in MWh
National Grid Total Generation	sensor.total_generation_mwh	Total generation in MWh
National Grid Total Demand MWh	sensor.national_grid_total_demand_mwh	Total electricity demand in MWh. This is all generation with the inclusion of interconnectors and storage.
National Grid Total Transfers MWh	sensor.national_grid_total_transfers_mwh	Total electricity transfers in MWh. This is all the transfers which are interconnectors and storage.
National Grid Grid Generation Fossil Fuel Percentage	sensor.national_grid_fossil_fuel_percentage_generation	Percentage of total grid generation that is generated from fossil fuel sources: Gas, Oil & Coal
National Grid Grid Generation Renewable Percentage	sensor.national_grid_renewable_percentage_generation	Percentage of total grid generation that is generated from renewable sources: Solar, Wind & Hydro
National Grid Grid Generation Low Carbon Percentage	sensor.national_grid_low_carbon_percentage_generation	Percentage of total grid generation that is generated from renewable & low carbon sources: Solar, Wind, Hydro & Nuclear
National Grid Grid Generation Low Carbon With Biomass Percentage	sensor.low_carbon_with_biomass_percentage_generation	Percentage of total grid generation that is generated from renewable & low carbon sources including Biomass (which is contentious): Solar, Wind, Hydro, Nuclear & Biomass
National Grid Grid Generation Other Percentage	sensor.national_grid_other_percentage_generation	Percentage of total grid generation that is generated from 'other' sources: Nuclear, Biomass & Unknown / Other

Note that the associated time sensors are important. Updates can lag by a few minutes and are in UTC so its possible that 'today' and 'tomorrow' aren't entirely accurate for a period of time.

Grid Generation Sensor Entity

Name - Grid Generation
ID - sensor.national_grid_grid_generation
State - Temporary "Grid Generation"
Attributes:

gas_mwh
oil_mwh
coal_mwh
nuclear_mwh
wind_mwh
national_wind_mwh
embedded_wind_mwh
solar_mwh
pumped_storage_mwh
hydro_mwh
other_mwh
france_mwh
ireland_mwh
netherlands_mwh
biomass_mwh
belgium_mwh
norway_mwh
total_generation_mwh
fossil_fuel_percentage_generation
renewable_percentage_generation
low_carbon_percentage_generation
low_carbon_with_biomass_percentage_generation
other_percentage_generation
grid_collection_time

Day Ahead Solar Forecast

Thirty minute day ahead solar forecast

Name - Solar Forecast
ID - sensor.national_grid_solar_forecast
State - Current forecast value
Attributes:

forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      generation: ...
...

Wind Forecast Entity

Hourly forecast from 20:00 (UTC) on the current day to 20:00 (GMT) on day + 2

Name - Wind Forecast
ID - sensor.national_grid_wind_forecast
State - Current hour forecast
Attributes:

forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      generation: ...
...

Wind Forecast Earliest Entity

Hourly forecast from 20:00 (UTC) on the current day to 20:00 (GMT) on day + 2 This is however, the first forecast obtained for this period, not the latest update

Name - Wind Forecast Earlist
ID - sensor.national_grid_wind_forecast_earliest
State - Current hour earliest forecast
Attributes:

forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      generation: ...
...

Wind Forecast Now To Three Day Entity

Thirty minute long term wind forecast - From now to three days ahead

Name - Wind Forecast Now To Three Day
ID - sensor.national_grid_now_to_three_day_wind_forecast
State - None
Attributes:

forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      generation: ...
...

Wind Forecast Fourteen Day Entity

Two-hourly long term wind forecast - From now to fourteen days ahead

Name - Wind Forecast Fourteen Day
ID - sensor.national_grid_fourteen_day_wind_forecast
State - None
Attributes:

forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      generation: ...
...

Embedded Wind Forecast Three Day

Thirty minute long term wind forecast - From now to three days ahead

Name - Embedded Wind Forecast Three Day
ID - sensor.national_grid_embedded_wind_forecast_three_day
State - Closest forecasted value to 'now' Attributes:

current_value:
forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      generation: ...
...

Embedded Wind Forecast Fourteen Day

Two-hourly long term wind forecast - From now to fourteen days ahead

Name - Embedded Wind Forecast Fourteen Day
ID - sensor.national_grid_embedded_wind_forecast_fourteen_day
State - Closest forecasted value to 'now' Attributes:

current_value:
forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      generation: ...
...

Embedded Solar Forecast Three Day

Thirty minute long term wind forecast - From now to three days ahead

Name - Embedded Solar Forecast Three Day
ID - sensor.national_grid_embedded_solar_forecast_three_day
State - Closest forecasted value to 'now' Attributes:

current_value:
forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      generation: ...
...

Embedded Solar Forecast Fourteen Day Entity

Two-hourly long term solar forecast - From now to fourteen days ahead

Name - Embedded Solar Forecast Fourteen Day
ID - sensor.national_grid_embedded_solar_forecast_fourteen_day
State - Closest forecasted value to 'now' Attributes:

current_value:
forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      generation: ...
...

National Grid Grid Demand Day Ahead Forecast Entity

Thirty minute day ahead demand forecast

Name - Grid Demand Day Ahead Forecast ID - sensor.national_grid_grid_demand_day_ahead_forecast State - Closest forecasted value to 'now' Attributes:

current_value:
forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      transmission_demand: ...
      national_demand: ...
...

National Grid Grid Demand Three Day Forecast Entity

Thirty minute three day demand forecast

Name - Grid Demand Three Day Forecast ID - sensor.national_grid_grid_demand_three_day_forecast State - Closest forecasted value to 'now' Attributes:

current_value:
forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      national_demand: ...
...

National Grid Grid Demand Fourteen Day Forecast Entity

Two hourly fourteen day demand forecast

Name - Grid Demand Fourteen Day Forecast ID - sensor.national_grid_grid_demand_fourteen_day_forecast State - Closest forecasted value to 'now' Attributes:

current_value:
forecast:
    - start_time: ...
      national_demand: ...
...

National Grid DFS Requirements Entity

National Grid DFS Requirements - Shows last 15 only

Name - National Grid DFS Requirements ID - sensor.national_grid_dfs_requirements State - National Grid DFS Requirements Attributes:

requirements:
    - start_time: ...
      end_time: ...
      required_mw: ...
      requirement_type: ...
      despatch_type: ...
      participants_eligible:
        - ...
...

Uses / Examples

This section outlines some graphs / views I have personally created with the data provided by the integration.

Data Sources

BMRS - Balancing Mechanism Reporting Service

An Elexon developed API responsible for reporting power generation, interconnectors, pricing and wind forecasting.
Data is provided from their newer API which provides data in a JSON format (but optionally others too).

Carbon Itensity API

A National Grid ESO API developed in partner ship with the University of Oxford is responsible for reporting the carbon intensity of power generation in the UK in grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour.
Data is provided in JSON format.

National Grid ESO API

A National Grid ESO API responsible for estimating power generation from embedded solar and wind. This is required as BMRS only reports main grid generation, embedded generation is not counted. Embedded generation being the generation connected to local distribution networks rather than the national transmission network.