Secondary frequency control plays a vital role inpower systems and has therefore been the focus of muchresearch. Recent focus is being targeted towards developingdistributed solutions. This paper proposes a fast converging,distributed solution for secondary frequency control on the basisof the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM).For economic benefits the proposed solution integrates the useof rapid start units. Rapid start units are fast response and highramp offline units, which can provide the reserve power in caseof need. The proposed control scheme is a distributed solution tocombine secondary frequency control, economic dispatch and theRS start up process. Finally, the developed algorithm is tested fora power system model on a real-time co-simulation platform. Theresults show a fast converging algorithm that provides secondaryfrequency control compliant with ENTSO-E requirements, andthe economical benefits of the inclusion of a rapid start unit.