Fiddlers Ferry Power Plant
4:41 AM
Fiddlers Ferry Power Plant is a coal fired power station located in Cheshire in North West England, which is capable of co-firing biomass. Fiddlers Ferry Power Plant 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). 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 the station is a prominent landmark and can be seen from as far away as the Peak District. The station is seen in the title sequence to the BBC Three programme, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.
The Fiddlers Ferry Power Plant generates electricity using four 500 MW generating sets. The station consumes 195 million litres of water daily from the River Mersey. Since the deep mines in the Lancashire coalfield closed, all its coal is either imported (largely by train from Liverpool docks), or supplied from mines in Yorkshire. 16,000 tonnes of coal are burned each day. It also burns biofuels together with the coal.
Fiddlers Ferry Power Plant 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.
As of March 2010, the station was being considered for the installation of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) equipment. This would reduce the stations emmissions 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.With its eight 114-metre (374 ft) high cooling towers and 200-metre (660 ft) high chimney the station is a prominent landmark and can be seen from as far away as the Peak District. The station is seen in the title sequence to the BBC Three programme, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.
| Fiddlers Ferry power station | |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Locale | Widnes |
| 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) |
| Power station information | |
| Primary fuel | Coal |
| Secondary fuel | Biomass |
| Power generation information | |
| Installed capacity | 1,989 MW |
