Sky Studios wind turbine spins into action

Wind turbine combines with biomass power plant to contribute to broadcaster’s
renewable energy targets

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.

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Images

High resolution images of the wind turbine are available to download from our image library under the 'Buildings' category.

About Sky

Sky entertains and excites more than 10.5 million homes through the most comprehensive multichannel, multi-platform television service in the UK and Ireland. Sky continues to break new ground with its own portfolio of channels: Sky 1 combines its commitment to UK production with the best of the US; Sky Living pushes ahead with fresh and innovative entertainment formats; Sky Arts is the UK's only dedicated arts channel brand; Sky Atlantic is the home to HBO and other iconic drama and comedy, Sky Sports is still raising the bar in sports broadcasting; Sky News remains a pioneer in television news; and Sky Movies is leading the way in High Definition and on-demand.

Sky also works with dozens of other broadcasters on the satellite platform, as well as online and on mobile through the ground-breaking Sky Go service. Sky has also led the UK into the age of high definition television, launched Europe's first 3DTV channel, Sky 3D, and offers customer even more flexibility and choice through Sky Anytime+, its internet-delivered video on demand service. Since launching Sky Broadband and Sky Talk in 2006, the company has also been the UK's fastest-growing home communications provider. Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates, not least by increasing participation in, and access to, the arts, supporting grassroots sports, and taking positive action on the environment.

For more information

Clara Eldridge, Sky
e: clara.eldridge@bskyb.com

Francoise Cairns, Sky
e: francoise.cairns@bskyb.com