'First fire' has been achieved at SSE Thermal's Ferrybridge Multifuel 2 (FM2) project in West Yorkshire – a major milestone ahead of the plant becoming operational later this year.

FM2, which entered construction in 2016, is being developed as a joint venture between SSE Thermal and Wheelabrator Technologies at a total cost of £325m.

When completed, the facility will have a generation capacity of 70MW, converting waste-derived fuel into enough electricity to power around 180,000 homes. In doing so, it will help divert an estimated 570,000 tonnes of waste from landfill annually.


The project is located next to SSE's existing FM1 facility and adjacent to the company's decommissioned coal-fired Ferrybridge 'C' Power Station.

Stephen Davis, Head of Construction (Multifuel) for SSE Thermal, said: "We're delighted to have reached 'first fire' at FM2, which is one of the last big milestones before the plant becomes operational. This achievement is the culmination of three years of hard work and I want to say a big thank you to our lead contractor Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI), and the entire project team, for getting to this point safely and on schedule."

At peak construction over 900 people were working on the FM2 project, and 34 full-time roles are expected to be created once the plant becomes fully operational. 

SSE's thermal plants provide important and complementary flexible electricity generation to support increasing renewable power across GB.

(MH/JG)