End of an era as power station is finally shut down
FIDDLER’S Ferry Power Station has shut after nearly 50 years.
It officially closed on Tuesday.
SSE announced the coal-fired power station’s closure in June 2019, .
An SSE spokesman said at its peak, Fiddler’s Ferry had a capacity of 2,000 megawatts (MW), producing enough electricity to power around two million homes.
The power station was first proposed in 1962, with the first of four 500MW units coming online in 1971, and the site reaching full operation in 1973.
The spokesman said the closure is part of SSE’s commitment to a net zero emissions future and comes ahead of the UK Government’s target to end unabated coal-fired generation by 2025 at latest.
When SSE announced its closure last year, the site employed 158 staff, and SSE said it would seek to redeploy those, some working on decommissioning the plant and others given the offer of voluntary redundancy.
It followed the closure of the company’s other coal-fired plant, the Ferrybridge ‘C’ station in West Yorkshire, in 2016.
The electricity system operator, National Grid, the Government and energy industry regulator,
Ofgem, have been consulted with throughout the last year and the closure of the site has long been factored into wider GB electricity system planning, the spokesman said.
Fiddler’s Ferry’s took its name from The Ferry Tavern, which stands on the former site of a ferry that once plied its trade across the River Mersey.
It was with some irony that The Eight Towers pub was in turn named after the power station’s cooling towers.
The power station’s memory will also live on in its visual legacy including its appearance in the opening titles of the BBC comedy Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps.
One of the most notable events in its history was Friday, January 13, 1984, when strong winds caused cooling tower B2 to collapse.
SSE said over its lifetime, Fiddler’s Ferry produced around 393TWh (terawatt hours) - enough to power the entire UK for 15 months.
The spokesman added that more than £500,000 has been donated to good causes via the station’s annual charity golf day.
Some other key dates in its history include:
1990: Powergen takes ownership of the station following the dawn of privatisation and the breakup of the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB).
1995: A coal importing terminal built at Liverpool’s Gladstone Dock provides coal supplies to Fiddler’s Ferry on a ‘merry-go-round’ rail system.
1999: California-based Edison Mission Energy (EME) buys Fiddler’s Ferry.
2001: American Electric Power (AEP) acquires Fiddler’s Ferry from EME.
2004: SSE buys the station.
2004: Fiddler’s Ferry wins the British Safety Council’s Sword Of Honour.
2019: SSE announces closure of Fiddler’s Ferry.
2020: Fiddler’s Ferry officially closes.
Speaking on Monday, Mark Hayward, a former station manager at Fiddlers Ferry and SSE Thermal’s director of operations, said: “After nearly 50 years of electricity generation at Fiddler’s Ferry, today marks the end of an era and a landmark moment in the history of the UK’s energy industry.
“We are incredibly proud of the contribution the station has made through the decades, both for the local community and for homes and businesses across the country.
“For those of us who worked at the station, we know its greatest asset has always been its people, who faced every success and challenge with the famous ‘Fiddler’s spirit’.
“I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone associated with Fiddler’s Ferry well and the very best for the future.”