Sky Studios wind turbine spins into action

Sky has unveiled the company’s first-ever wind turbine installation at its West London campus. The 55-metre Northwind 100 turbine is expected to provide over 133 MWh/year of clean energy to Sky Studios - the company’s state-of-the-art broadcast facility – enough to meet its annual office lighting requirements.

Calculations estimate that the amount of CO2 offset by the turbine will be equivalent to driving 370,000 miles in a typical petrol-powered car each year.

The new wind turbine will operate in conjunction with Sky’s recently-commissioned Combined Cooling, Heating and Power (CCHP) plant – the first large-scale facility of its type in the UK – to meet Sky’s target for all company-owned sites to derive at least 20 per cent of their energy needs from on-site renewable sources by 2020.

"We’re delighted to have successfully installed Sky’s first-ever wind turbine," commented Fiona Ball, Head of Environment for Sky. "As well as contributing towards our 2020 on-site renewable energy goal the turbine’s position at the heart of our campus has got everyone very excited and is a clear demonstration of our commitment to reduce our carbon emissions. We’re now exploring the opportunities for similar on-site renewable technologies across our other UK sites."

The £233million broadcast facility, Sky Studios, opened its doors in July 2011, and is the most sustainable facility of its type in Europe. It houses eight naturally ventilated studios, including five HD studios, 45 edit suites, 14 voice-over suites and four audio suites. The building’s other sustainable features include a rainwater harvesting facility; mixed-mode natural ventilation for studios and office areas; and energy-efficient lighting controlled by solar and presence-detection sensors.