New £20m investment for 20-year plan to extend Fiddler’s Ferry ash processing plant

PLANS for a £20m investment to extend and alter an existing ash processing plant on the former Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station site near Penketh, Warrington, for the production of cement, are to be considered by town planners.

Roughly 20 direct and 50 indirect jobs will be created in relation to transportation, contractors and manufacturers for the proposed extensions and alterations to the existing ash processing plant, including new buildings, stacks, silos, generators, compound and continuation of operations until 2045.

Planning permission is being sought by Titan Cement for the Fiddler’s Ferry Ash Processing Plant, based at Fiddler’s Ferry, which was closed in March 2020. The site was identified in the Warrington Local Plan as a key area for mixed-use redevelopment, comprising both industrial and residential uses.
A Development Framework (DF) for the regeneration of the former power station site has been developed by the landowners, Peel NRE Developments Acquisitions No.1 Ltd (Peel) and was approved by Warrington Borough Council (WBC) in September 2024. The DF sets out the aims and objectives for the overall redevelopment of the former FFPS site including maintaining the existing Ash Processing Plant (APP) as existing infrastructure to be retained in order to process the Coal Derived Fly Ash (CDFA) located in the former settling lagoons and stockpiled in Area E which comprises a nationally important mineral as designated in the National Planning Policy Framework.
A substantial component of the DF comprises the restoration of the former settling lagoons following the excavation and recovery of the CDFA, and their development for the benefit of nature, public access and
amenity.
As an integral part of the objectives of the wider redevelopment operations at the site, Titan Cement UK (Titan) propose to continue the extraction of CDFA from the lagoons and Area E in the southern area of
the former power station site.
MJCA are instructed by Titan to prepare a planning application for planned changes to the existing APP to upgrade and improve the recovery technology. The changes will comprise the installation of new plant and machinery for the processing of CDFA, extensions to the existing APP buildings and the addition of external silos and gas-fuelled generators at the former FFPS, Warrington.

The proposed new plant

The aim of the proposed Titan Cement process is to extract previously deposited wet CDFA in order to dry and deagglomerate the material to return it to the particle size distribution it was produced at and to achieve compliance with the particle size density required to achieve the EN450 standard.

It was intended that the ash treatment process would use the mains electricity supply already in place at the site. However, due to the practicalities associated with the redevelopment of the wider area as part of the Development Framework, a mains electricity supply will not be available in the short term and may not be installed for several years.
Accordingly, in the short term, the ash treatment process will be powered by two gas-fuelled generators (1.4MW capacity each). There will also be two smaller diesel-fuelled generators (0.4MW capacity each) that are used infrequently for start-ups of the processing equipment, where the gas generator cannot run at such a low power. As it is currently uncertain when the mains supply will be reinstalled, a conservative assumption has been made as part of the application and associated assessments that the gas-fuelled generators will be in place for the duration of the operation.
The use of processed CDFA will result directly in reduced carbon emissions from the cement industry through the reduction in the use of traditional Portland Cement. The proposals for processing result in enhanced properties of cement and concrete with strong sustainability credentials and produce a material that contributes directly to the goals of a circular economy.
At present, the CDFA extracted from the lagoons cannot be used for added value applications in material construction as it does not meet certain physical (particle size) and chemical (Loss on Ignition and water content) criteria. The processing technology to be employed by Titan at the APP will result in enhanced and consistent qualities for the processed material in that it will produce a consistent product that is concrete grade
compliant in accordance with BS EN450 for use in various construction applications, including cement, concrete and autoclaved aerated concrete blocks – a key component for housing.

The site plan

With all coal-powered electricity generation now ceased in the UK, there is an increased importance placed on making the best use of the remaining CDFA resource in the UK construction industry. The Titan proposals will avoid the potential sterilisation of this mineral and support the UK construction industry by providing a UK-based supply of CDFA, which will become BS EN450 compliant.
The UK is currently a net importer of secondary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as blast furnace slag, CDFA and natural pozzolans (cementitious materials). Such materials will play an increasing and critical role in decarbonising the cement and construction sectors. There are evident and obvious direct carbon reduction benefits in maximising the quality and use of the national reserves of CDFA as is proposed.
Planners will make a decision under delegated powers.