Along the River Mersey in Warrington, England, a silent relic of Britain’s industrial past is stirring back to life. The Fiddler’s Ferry power station, once a symbol of coal-fueled prosperity, has been dormant since it shut down in 2020. For years, it stood idle—its looming chimneys a reminder of another era. But that’s about to change.
In 2022, UK-based Peel NRE acquired the site from former owner SSE, not just to tear it down, but to reimagine what it could be. Rather than erase the past, Peel is partnering with Greek cement manufacturer Titan Group to turn one of the site's most persistent legacies—fly ash—into something useful, even essential: sustainable building materials.
The plan? A state-of-the-art facility that will extract and process ponded fly ash from the site’s ash lagoons, transforming it into low-carbon cement. The new plant is set to begin operations in early 2027, eventually processing up to 300,000 tonnes of wet fly ash each year, with the potential to double that capacity.
Fly ash might sound obscure, but in construction, it’s a well-known additive used to improve the strength and durability of concrete. Fiddler’s Ferry, having burned coal for decades, left behind vast quantities of it—most of which remains buried in artificial ponds, waiting to be dealt with. Titan’s solution: dig it up, clean it up, and repurpose it.
This isn't just a story about environmental cleanup—it’s also about smarter resource use. Titan will be applying its proprietary dry electrostatic separation technology, developed by its U.S. subsidiary ST Equipment & Technology (STET), to ensure the processed ash meets the European BS EN 450 standard. That means the fly ash can be used safely and consistently in modern cement blends.
And yes, this is very much a win-win.
For Titan, it's a chance to expand its presence in the growing market for alternative cementitious materials—something that aligns with the construction industry’s broader shift toward low-carbon solutions. Jean-Philippe Benard, head of Titan’s cementitious division, summed it up: “This is a major step in our growth strategy. We’re helping the sector build more sustainably, using high-performance materials derived from waste.”
For Peel NRE, it’s a practical and ecological breakthrough. The project helps accelerate the restoration of the ash lagoons while continuing to serve current customers who rely on fly ash. The partnership also supports Peel’s broader redevelopment vision for the site, which includes nearly 1.4 million square feet of employment space.
To someone like Lilia Smith, an Amsterdam-based architect working on sustainable housing developments, the benefits are clear: “Clients are asking for materials that don’t just perform well, but come from responsible sources. When we can tell them a component of their home comes from repurposed power station waste, that’s not just green—it’s powerful.”
This kind of industrial transformation isn’t unique to the UK. In Germany’s Ruhr region, former coal sites have become innovation parks and community spaces. In Ohio, USA, a shuttered paper mill was converted into a concrete panel factory using debris from its own demolition. These stories point to a larger truth: the future doesn’t always mean wiping the slate clean—it can mean building smarter with what we already have.
And perhaps that’s what makes the Fiddler’s Ferry project so compelling. It’s not about nostalgia or even just environmentalism. It’s about seeing potential in the overlooked. About understanding that yesterday’s waste might just be tomorrow’s foundation—literally.
A few years from now, people walking through a new business park or even living in homes built with cement sourced from this project may never guess their floors were once part of a coal-fired power station. But the story will be there—in the walls, in the concrete, in the future that rose from ash.