Ferrybridge power stations

Ferrybridge power stations
Ferrybridge C Power Station Viewed from the west in August 2005
Location of Ferrybridge power stations in West Yorkshire
Country	England
Location	Knottingley
Coordinates	53°43′03″N 1°16′50″W / 53.71740°N 1.28058°W / 53.71740; -1.28058Coordinates: 53°43′03″N 1°16′50″W / 53.71740°N 1.28058°W / 53.71740; -1.28058
Status	Operational
Commission date	A station: 1927 B station: 1957 C station: 1966
Decommission date	A station: 1976 B station: 1992 C station: 2016
Operator(s)	West Yorkshire Power Company (1927–1948) British Electricity Authority (1948–1954) Central Electricity Authority (1954–1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1957–1990) Powergen (1990–1999) Edison Mission Energy (1999–2001) AEP Energy Services Ltd (2001–2004) SSE plc (2004–2016)
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal
Secondary fuel	Biomass
Power generation
Nameplate capacity	A station:125 MW B station: 300 MW C station: 2,034 MW
Website www.sse.com/Ferrybridge/

Ferrybridge power station refers to a series of three coal-fired power stations situated on the River Aire near Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire, England, next to the junction of the M62 and A1(M) motorways.

The first station on the site, Ferrybridge A power station, was constructed in the mid-1920s, and was closed in 1976; the main building has been retained as workshops. Ferrybridge B was brought into operation in the 1950s and closed in the early 1990s.

In the 1960s, Ferrybridge C power station was opened with a generating capacity of 2 GW from four 500 MW sets; constructed by Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) in 1965; on privatisation in 1989 ownership was passed to Powergen, then to Edison Mission Energy (1999), then to AEP Energy Services (American Electric Power) (2001) and to SSE plc (2004). C power station closed in March 2016.

Two of the four units were fitted with flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) plant in 2009. In 2013 SSE indicated that the power station would not comply with the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU) requiring the plant's closure by 2023 or earlier. It was later announced that the plant would be fully closed by March 2016.

Ferrybridge Multifuel 1 is a 68 MW multi-fuel plant at the site which became operational in 2015.

Land at Ferrybridge was purchased by the West Yorkshire Power Company in 1917. Plans for a power station were prepared and submitted to the Board of Trade in March 1918. Because of a system change the following year with the Electricity (Supply) Act 1919, the plans were put on hold. The plans were resubmitted to the Electricity Commissioners in January 1920. The plans were finally granted permission in November 1921, but delayed by a supply area reshuffle. A 135 acres (55 ha) site was chosen with good access to coal, water, and good transport links including water transport.