Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station, Cheshire

Fiddler’s Ferry power station was a coal-fired power station located on the River Mersey at Warrington in Cheshire. Construction began in 1964 by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). In a bid to combine efforts at the design and construction stages the boiler and turbo-generator plant were replicated from West Burton power station located in Nottinghamshire.

Exterior of Fiddlers Ferry Power station and cooling towers

Upon privatisation of the UK’s energy industry in 1990 operation and ownership of the power station was transferred to Powergen. In 1999 Fiddler’s Ferry, along with Ferrybridge power station in North Yorkshire, were sold to Edison Mission Energy. They were both subsequently sold to AEP Energy Services in 2001 and again to SSE in 2004 for £136million.

The four 500 MW single shaft turbo-generator units manufactured by English Electric are arranged lengthwise along the turbine hall and provided electricity for around two million people

In 2006, work began on the fitting of flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) equipment at the station. The work was completed in 2008, and had a total cost of £100 million. The station was supplied with coal via a freight-only rail line between Warrington and Widnes, running along the banks of the River Mersey.

One of the 500 MW units was retired in March 2019. In June 2019, SSE confirmed that Fiddler’s Ferry would cease generation on 31 March 2020. The plant was desynchronized from the National Grid, ending nearly 50 years of electricity generation. Demolition of the station began in 2020 and was forecast to take up to seven years.