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Fiddlers Ferry Power Station to stay open at least another year

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Rail Ranger

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Good News. Fiddlers is to stay open at least until March 2017: http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-sse-coal-idUKKCN0WW213?rpc=401

British power firm SSE will keep its Fiddler's Ferry coal-fired power station near Manchester open until at least March 31, 2017, it said on Wednesday, having previously said it would likely close this year.

The decision was made after the plant secured a contract under a scheme run by National Grid to provide backup power for winter 2016/17.

"Challenging economic and environmental conditions for coal as the UK cleans its electricity mix mean that the longer-term future of the site remains uncertain but we are very pleased to have secured this 12-month contract," Martin Pibworth, Managing Director, Wholesale, for SSE said in a statement.

SSE said it would also enter all or part of the plants near 2 gigawatts of capacity into the country's capacity market auction being held for 2017/18.

The auction rewards successful bidders for keeping power plants on standby so they can be called upon when renewable energy production is low or demand is high, and are the government's major tool for ensuring the lights say on at a time when the country's generating capacity is its level in more than 20 years.

The government announced earlier this month it would bring the scheme forward by a year, to 2017/2018, to avert a looming electricity supply crunch.
 
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lincolnshire

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Ferrybridge " C " officially closed today as well according to BBC News this morning.

So thats another one less.
 

briosa

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There's still an enormous pile of coal outside Ferrybridge C, what will happen to that?
 

miami

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Why is a coal fired power plant - with all the deaths they cause - staying open, a good thing?
 

sprinterguy

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Why is a coal fired power plant - with all the deaths they cause - staying open, a good thing?
The fact that it keeps 200 local people, potentially with limited alternate employment opportunities, in a job? Indirectly this also helps to support services and facilities in the local economy, and too many, often low income, areas have already been hit hard by the recent steel crisis and winding down of power stations in locations where such industries are the primary employer.

More pertinently to this forum of course it helps to keep the railfreight sector buoyant, with traditional heavy industries such as coal and steel having been the bread and butter of railfreight income for decades.
 
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70014IronDuke

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Ask your local Tory MP, I'm sure he'll know the answer.

"Money", of course.

Yes. So obvious, isn't it?

Would you say that say that if - having NOT kept this power station on standby - next harsh winter your wife or daughter went into hospital and suffered a delay in some way because of a power cut?

More on topic, are you gonna be happy if and when your train is delayed, or cancelled due to power shortages?

When will people realise that renewables in many forms need back up, in the form of coal and nuclear and other traditional generation - especially to meet peak loads - and this needs to be counted into their real costs.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for renewables where and when realistic - but for many, renewables is a religious belief as fanatical as any supposed loony cult. Unfortunately, this government seems to have been infected by the bug to boot.

We must be scrapping billions of pounds of perfectly decent power generation prematurely in this rush for the green religious perfection - and every day China is bringing on line more than we scrap in a year.

And the moment people suffer personal deprivation due to a power shortage, they are the first to complain.
 

Rail Ranger

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There's still an enormous pile of coal outside Ferrybridge C, what will happen to that?

This week and next week coal trains are running from Ferrybridge C to Fiddlers Ferry. I saw one passing through Altrincham at 16.10 yesterday (Wednesday). Freightliner 66 plus graffiti-covered Freightliner HHA's.
 

Phil.

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Why is a coal fired power plant - with all the deaths they cause - staying open, a good thing?

Because they are able to generate many more megawatts of power than all the windmills and solar panels that the tree huggers stupidly think will supply our power needs for the twenty first century. Longannet, Ferrybridge and Fiddler's ferry could produce a total of 6,300 megawatts between them. Just those three equal more reliable power than all the windmills and solar panels in the country. Or perhaps you thing that cutting down trees in Canada and shipping the pellets that they're made into across the Atlantic then transporting them to where they're needed is a better idea. Or we could hedge our bets on windmills that don't work when there's not enough wind and have to be turned off when there's too much. Then of course there's solar panels - bit of a bugger in the winter when we need extra power and there's only about eight hours of daylight available.

What about nuclear? Megawatts of reliable power and until idiot Labour sold off Westinghouse we were world leaders in planning and construction but unfortunately the chattering classes are fashionably against it.

Deaths they cause? I should start to try and ban the motor car first which kills more people worldwide than anything else but the chattering classes love their motor cars so.
 

BuryBlue

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Yes, nuclear in my opinion is the most sensible of all of the options - sadly the government will never repatriate the expertise in the field we sold, leaving us to rely on either the French unions or Hitachi to build our reactors. Although maybe 'thanks, but not thanks' to the Chinese poundland builds.

Now we're out of the EU surely we can give our coal power stations a stay of execution. Although maybe it might be best to have the lights go out so the government can't ignore the problem any longer.
 

FordFocus

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The EDF project at Hinkley C seems to be dying http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...cancellation-eu-cuts-government-a7106961.html

Love it or hate it, coal is a reliable form of energy that we've had experience and the infrastructure needed for many years. Keeping one or two plants on standby is very logical with the strong whispers of an energy shortage in the future. For too long the governments haven't had a key plan on where we get our power from. Gas is getting a very prominent but at risk of a price spike and perhaps arguments about been too reliant on gas pumped from Russia.
 

Harbornite

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Phil.

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Surely gas is the answer in the short term?

The key words there are "short term". Future energy needs is playing the long game. We should have built at least ten nuclear stations twenty years ago. Anyway, can we really rely on Russian supplied gas?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Hence why the government now supports fracking. I think fracking the Bowland Hodder shale in Northern England would be good for this country.

You mustn't mention fracking. You'll have all this Islington and Hampstead trendies driving their Range-Rovers and Audis up there with their green wellies on and the rent-a-mob right behind.
 
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class 9

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This week and next week coal trains are running from Ferrybridge C to Fiddlers Ferry. I saw one passing through Altrincham at 16.10 yesterday (Wednesday). Freightliner 66 plus graffiti-covered Freightliner HHA's.

800,000 tons to move over the next 10 months.
 

Elecman

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Hence why the government now supports fracking. I think fracking the Bowland Hodder shale in Northern England would be good for this country

You may think so but the residents of Lancashire are against fracking!! Would you be happy if they proposed fracking near your residence? Gas is unsustainable
 
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najaB

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You may think so but the residents of Lancashire are against fracking!! Would you be happy if they proposed fracking near your residence? Gas is unsustainable
No argument that gas is, by definition, a finite resource. However, as a stepping-stone to a carbon neutral future it is closer to being sustainable than coal.
 

Mordac

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The key words there are "short term". Future energy needs is playing the long game. We should have built at least ten nuclear stations twenty years ago. Anyway, can we really rely on Russian supplied gas?
None of our gas comes from Russia. Germans may have to worry about that, but we don't (well, except to the extent that Russia's actions may affect the world price).
 

Bald Rick

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Surely gas is the answer in the short term?

It's the answer in the medium term as well.

As of right now, Gas is generating half the country's electricity supply. Coal is doing 7%. Wind is doing 9% (and it's not at all windy where I'm sitting).
 

Bigfoot

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Portugal supported itself for 4 and a half days only using renewables recently. Only 4.5 days I know but with investment and time we will be a country of renewable, nuclear and occasional fossil fuel to boost the output when periods of high demand. Like it or lump it it will happen within my lifetime.
 

Harbornite

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You may think so but the residents of Lancashire are against fracking! Would you be happy if they proposed fracking near your residence? Gas is unsustainable

I studied the Fylde case study for my A2 Geog 4B unit. I came to the conclusion that the extra traffic and pollution is a pity for the local residents, but it's a case of national gain vs local "pain". I have to say that the UK's energy security is far more important than what a few pensioners think, I'm afraid. People all over the country live near power stations and mines so the folk in the Roseacre Wood and Kirby Misperton areas will have to get on with it as others do.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
You mustn't mention fracking. You'll have all this Islington and Hampstead trendies driving their Range-Rovers and Audis up there with their green wellies on and the rent-a-mob right behind.



Indeed.
 
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furnessvale

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I studied the Fylde case study for my A2 Geog 4B unit. I came to the conclusion that the extra traffic and pollution is a pity for the local residents, but it's a case of national gain vs local "pain". I have to say that the UK's energy security is far more important than what a few pensioners think, I'm afraid. People all over the country live near power stations and mines so the folk in Lancashire and Yorkshire will have to get on with it as others do.

It may have escaped your notice but the folk of Lancashire and Yorkshire have got on with power stations and mines for a year or two recently.

Perhaps it is time we built a nuclear power station close to the point where the energy is actually used. Westminster seems to be a good location.
 

Harbornite

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It may have escaped your notice but the folk of Lancashire and Yorkshire have got on with power stations and mines for a year or two recently.

Perhaps it is time we built a nuclear power station close to the point where the energy is actually used. Westminster seems to be a good location.

Don't worry, I am aware of this (Ferrybridge, Drax and Sellafield being examples_. I should have made it clearer that I wasn't referring to the whole of Yorkshire and L'shire, but only the communities of Roseacre Wood and Kirby Misperton.
 

Phil.

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Portugal supported itself for 4 and a half days only using renewables recently. Only 4.5 days I know but with investment and time we will be a country of renewable, nuclear and occasional fossil fuel to boost the output when periods of high demand. Like it or lump it it will happen within my lifetime.

Have you ever been to Portugal? Small population. No heavy industry. Loads of sunshine.
 

AndyPJG

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Perhaps it is time we built a nuclear power station close to the point where the energy is actually used. Westminster seems to be a good location.

Nah, no need to build nuclear at Westminster, plenty of hot air/wind to drive the windmills there. Just stick some sails on the Eye!
 
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