SSE has secured a major 12-month contract with the National Grid for its Fiddler's Ferry power station in Cheshire, which currently employs 213 staff and had recently been earmarked for a partial ending of commercial operations.

In early February 2016, the energy giant announced a consultation into the future of commercial operations at three of the four units at Fiddler's Ferry. The fourth unit has a Supplemental Balancing Reserve (SBR) contract for the winter of 2016/17.

Now SSE has announced that it has won a one-year contract to provide ancillary services to the National Grid following a competitive procurement process. The contract, which starts on 1 April 2016, covers one of the three available units at the site.

Following the success and in view of the UK government's current consultation on reforms to the capacity market, SSE has made a number of further announcements.

It confirmed that one unit at the station would provide SBR services to the National Grid for the winter of 2016/17. SSE also said that it would retain transmission entry capacity for the station of 1,455MW equivalent to the capacity of three units for 2016/17, and enter all or part of Fiddler's Ferry's capacity into any 2017/18 Capacity Market auction.

Moreover, SSE said that it would consult further with its employees and their representatives about the future operational requirements of the site.

Martin Pibworth, managing director of wholesale for SSE, said: "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.

"We will continue our consultation with employees as we complete our review of the operational requirements of the station."

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