UK-based construction and civil engineering company, Costain, has bagged a contract from electric utility Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), to retrofit two cooling towers at its Fiddlers Ferry power station.

The 2,000MW coal-fired plant is located in Cuerdley, Cheshire in North West England, between the towns of Widnes and Warrington.

SSE’s Fiddlers Ferry plant has eight natural draught water cooling towers, which assist in improving power generating efficiency, but the silted condition of the plastic heat exchange media inside two cooling towers has reduced the cooling efficiency.

Under the 18-week contract, Costain will dispose waste material and replace the existing plastic with 13,000m3 of an improved design and result in less silt contamination.

The team will also install new plastic spray pipes.

Costain Industrial Cooling director Mark Blackham said that the use of eco-friendly adhesive will guarantee the welfare of on-site personnel and the power station’s owner-operator, SSE.

The team from Costain will use solvent-free adhesive to bond the sheets into modules and assemble the new PVC modular cooling media at the site to reduce carbon footprint that results from equipment transport.