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SP Energy Networks Open Data Explore API

The live, anonymous REST API behind the SP Energy Networks Open Data Portal — ScottishPower's regulated distribution and transmission arm publishing its network data under Ofgem's Data Best Practice "presumed open" licence condition. Implements the Opendatasoft Explore API v2.1 contract (OpenAPI 3.0.3, 16 paths) over a catalogue of 150 datasets covering the embedded capacity register, network flow, historic substation demand curves, LV monitoring, smart-meter penetration by transformer, secondary substations, generation heat maps, connections insight and per-dataset data-quality scores. Verified on 2026-07-27 with no API key and no account: GET /catalog/datasets returned HTTP 200 with total_count 150, access-control-allow-origin "*", and x-ratelimit-limit 5000 with x-ratelimit-remaining 4990 resetting daily. Records, facets, attachments and exports (CSV, Parquet, GPX, DCAT-AP RDF/XML) are all served from the same base URL. An optional apikey query parameter, obtainable from a free self-serve portal account, raises quotas; none is required for public datasets. Data is published under the SP Energy Networks Open Data Licence, which the portal states is based on the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public Licence.

SP Energy Networks Open Data Explore API is one of 2 APIs that ScottishPower publishes on the APIs.io network, described by a machine-readable OpenAPI specification.

Tagged areas include Open Data, Energy, Electricity, Grid, and Distribution Network Operator. The published artifact set on APIs.io includes an OpenAPI specification, an API reference, API documentation, and a getting-started guide.

This API exposes 16 operations across 16 paths, organized into 2 resource areas, and defines 9 schemas. It is described by OpenAPI 3.0.3, at version v2.1.

Requests are made against a single base URL, https://spenergynetworks.opendatasoft.com/api/explore/v2.1.

16 operations 16 paths 9 schemas 16 GET

Metadata

The identity and technical contract details declared by the specification.

Specification
OpenAPI 3.0.3
API Version
v2.1
Base URL
https://spenergynetworks.opendatasoft.com/api/explore/v2.1
Authentication
API Key
Resource Areas
2

Authentication & Security 1

SP Energy Networks Open Data Explore API declares 1 security scheme for authenticating requests. An API key is passed in the query as apikey (apikey). By default, every request must be authenticated.

  • apikey — API key to make authenticated requests.

Paths & Operations 16

Across 16 paths, the API surfaces 16 operations — 16 GET. They span 2 resource areas: Catalog, Dataset. Each is listed below with its method, path, parameters, and response codes.

Catalog 7

API to enumerate datasets

GET
/catalog/datasets
Query catalog datasets
getDatasets 12 params → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/exports
List export formats
listExportFormats → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/exports/{format}
Export a catalog
exportDatasets 11 params → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/exports/csv
Export a catalog in CSV
exportCatalogCSV 4 params → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/exports/dcat{dcat_ap_format}
Export a catalog in RDF/XML (DCAT)
exportCatalogDCAT 3 params → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/facets
List facet values
getDatasetsFacets 5 params → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/datasets/{dataset_id}
Show dataset information
getDataset 6 params → 200400401429500
Dataset 9

API to work on records

GET
/catalog/datasets/{dataset_id}/records
Query dataset records
getRecords 13 params → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/datasets/{dataset_id}/exports
List export formats
listDatasetExportFormats 1 param → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/datasets/{dataset_id}/exports/{format}
Export a dataset
exportRecords 14 params → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/datasets/{dataset_id}/exports/csv
Export a dataset in CSV
exportRecordsCSV 5 params → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/datasets/{dataset_id}/exports/parquet
Export a dataset in Parquet
exportRecordsParquet 2 params → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/datasets/{dataset_id}/exports/gpx
Export a dataset in GPX
exportRecordsGPX 4 params → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/datasets/{dataset_id}/facets
List dataset facets
getRecordsFacets 7 params → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/datasets/{dataset_id}/attachments
List dataset attachments
getDatasetAttachments 1 param → 200400401429500
GET
/catalog/datasets/{dataset_id}/records/{record_id}
Read a dataset record
getRecord 5 params → 200400401429500

Schemas 9

The contract defines 9 schemas that model the data the API accepts and returns. The most detailed are dataset (9 properties), record (4 properties), facet_value_enumeration (4 properties), datasets (3 properties). Each schema is shown below with its type and property counts.

links
object
2 properties
dataset
object
9 properties
datasets
object
3 properties
enum-format-datasets
string
facet_value_enumeration
object
4 properties
facet_enumeration
object
2 properties
record
object
4 properties
records
object
3 properties
attachment
object
2 properties

Specification

The full machine-readable OpenAPI contract behind this narrative.

Source

scottishpower-spen-open-data-explore-api-openapi.json Raw ↑

Other APIs ScottishPower publishes across the network.

SP Energy Networks Open Data Search API (v1.0)
Where this information came from

This is an independent, third-party profile of SP Energy Networks Open Data Explore API, published by API Evangelist. We do not operate, host, resell, or support these APIs, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by the company unless stated above. Everything here is built from publicly available information — the company's own site, developer portal, documentation, public repositories, and the specifications it publishes for public use. Nothing is obtained by breaching a system, defeating an access control, or using credentials.

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