SSE confirms Fiddler’s Ferry’s last winter

SSE has confirmed that the remaining units at its coal-fired Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station in Warrington, Cheshire, will close by 31 March 2020. The proposal was first announced in June.

Fiddler’s Ferry is the last remaining coal-fired power station in SSE’s generation fleet, with a total capacity of 1,510MW from its three operational units. Unit 1 was closed in March 2019.

SSE said Capacity Market contracts for the remaining units  ended in September 2019, and the plant’s financial performance “has deteriorated to unsustainable levels, with losses of around £40 million in SSE’s last financial year”.

The company said that it has  itself committed to reducing the carbon intensity of the electricity it generates by 50%, as well as trebling its renewable energy output, by 2030.