Fiddlers Ferry power station

Fiddlers Ferry power station
Fiddlers Ferry power station
Viewed from the east in January 2006
Country England
Location Warrington
Coordinates 53°22′19″N 2°41′13″W / 53.372°N 2.687°W / 53.372; -2.687Coordinates: 53°22′19″N 2°41′13″W / 53.372°N 2.687°W / 53.372; -2.687
Status Operational
Commission date 1971
Operator(s) Central Electricity Generating Board
(1971–1990)
Powergen
(1990–1999)
Edison Mission Energy
(1999–2001)
AEP Energy Services Ltd
(2001–2004)
Scottish and Southern Energy
(2004–present)
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Coal
Secondary fuel Biomass
Power generation
Nameplate capacity 1,989 MW
grid reference SJ544863

Fiddlers Ferry Power Station is a coal fired power station located in Warrington, Cheshire, in North West England, which is capable of co-firing biomass. It is situated on the north bank of the River Mersey between the towns of Widnes and Warrington. Opened in 1971, the station has a generating capacity of 1,989 megawatts (MW). In a bid to combine efforts at the design and construction stages the Boiler and Turbo-generator plant were replicated at West Burton power station located between Retford and Gainsborough in North Nottinghamshire.[1]

Since the privatisation of the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1990, the station has been operated by various companies. Since 2004, Scottish and Southern Energy plc have operated the station.

With its eight 114-metre (374 ft) high cooling towers and 200-metre (660 ft) high chimney[1] the station is a prominent landmark and can be seen from as far away as the Peak District and the Pennines.

History

Fiddlers Ferry power station was built by the Cleveland Bridge Company and came into full operation in 1973.[2][3] One of the station's cooling towers collapsed in high winds on 13 January 1984. It has since been rebuilt.

The station was built by the CEGB but was transferred to Powergen PLC after privatisation of the UK's electricity industry in 1990. Fiddlers Ferry, along with Ferrybridge Power Station in Yorkshire, was then sold to Edison Mission Energy in 1999. They were then sold on to AEP Energy Services Ltd in 2001, and both were sold again in July 2004 to Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) for £136 million.

When it was built, the station mainly burned coal mined in the South Yorkshire Coalfield and transported across the Pennines on the Manchester-Sheffield-Wath electric railway.[4] Today, all coal for the station is imported.

SSE announced in February 2016 that it intended to close three of the four units at the plant by 1 April 2016. However, secured a 12-month contract in April 2016.[5]

Operations

The station generates electricity using four 500 MW generating sets.[2] The station consumes 195 million litres of water daily from the River Mersey.[1] All its coal is imported, and transported by train. At full capacity, 16,000 tonnes of coal were burned each day.[1] It also burns biofuels together with the coal.

Fiddlers Ferry has been fitted with Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) plant to reduce the emissions of sulphur by 94%, meeting the European Large Combustion Plant Directive. This work commenced in 2006 and was completed in 2008.[6][7]

As of March 2010, the station was being considered for the installation of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) equipment. This would reduce the station's emissions of nitrogen oxides, to meet the requirements of the Industrial Emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) Directive, which must be implemented by 2016. The SCR technology would replace the Separated Over Fire Air (SOFA) technology currently used in the station.[2] On 18 November 2015 Amber Rudd the Minister in charge of the Department of Energy and Climate Change proposed that the UK's remaining coal-fired power stations will be shut by 2025 with their use restricted by 2023.

In March 2017, the power station secured a contract to provide electricity until September 2018. At this point, the power station employed 160 people, down from 213 the previous year.[8] As of February 2018, the station had agreements to supply electricity until September 2019.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Fiddlers Ferry Power Station" (PDF). p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2006. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 Bell, Chris (March 2010). "Fiddlers Ferry SCR project" (ASP). Scottish and Southern Energy. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  3. ↑ "A – Z list of Bridges Built by Cleveland Bridge Company". Newcastle University. Archived from the original on 27 May 2003. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  4. ↑ Clough, David N. (August 1983). "The road to Fiddler's Ferry". Rail Enthusiast. EMAP National Publications. pp. 14, 23–24. ISSN 0262-561X. OCLC 49957965.
  5. ↑ BBC News: SSE to close most units at a coal-fired power station (accessed 6 February 2016)
  6. ↑ "North Midland Construction". Archived from the original on 18 October 2008.
  7. ↑ Fineren, Daniel (6 January 2009). "SSE says Fiddler's Ferry upgrade complete". Reuters. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  8. ↑ http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/15122861.Fiddlers_Ferry_workers_given__security__and__stability__after_power_station_secures_contract_at_auction/
  9. ↑ https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-power-auction/british-power-capacity-auction-fails-to-attract-gas-projects-idUKKBN1FT12A
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