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Sky is poised to take a major step closer towards its target
of cutting carbon emissions by a quarter, with the commissioning
of a new combined heat and power (CHP) plant that could supply
up to 40 per cent of energy to the broadcaster's main studio
complex.
Steve Holford, head of engineering projects and energy
at Sky, said he hopes to turn on the Turboden-made Organic
Rankine Cycle turbine by the end of this month.
This will provide both heat and electrical power to
the company's new sustainable studios near Heathrow,
London.
At full capacity, the plant will take delivery of 32 tonnes
of wood chips a day, sourced from local businesses in a 25-mile
radius. It will then burn the wood at temperatures higher
than 1,000°C to heat thermal oil systems that are used
to drive a turbine.
After the higher grade heat has been extracted, lower-grade
heat is recovered to create chilled water for cooling. The
remaining heat is used for hot water, while some of the ash
produced in the process can be sold to local horticulture
businesses as a fertiliser.
Holford said the initial goal of the project was obtaining
20 per cent of the energy for Sky Studios from onsite renewable
energy, but the plant has doubled this to up to 40 per cent.
The generator will also help Sky achieve targets to reduce
its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent, as well as improve
energy efficiency by 20 per cent.
"The key emission that we're very closely regulated on is
nitrogen oxides (NOx)," said Holford.
"Because of the environment we're in with the M4 and Heathrow
close by, Brentford has levels of NOx
that are already approaching national limits, so it was a
real challenge for us in the design stage to make sure that
we didn't contribute to that."
Holford revealed that the company initially considered installing
energy from a waste plant instead of CHP. However, it ultimately
decided the latter would be more considerate to neighbours.
"Incineration was not something we wanted to take on as a
company, because it would involve incineration of waste products
here in an open environment," he said. "We need to consider
our neighbours. It's a very domestic environment around here
and we were very keen to go for a clean technology."
In the end, Sky decided to combine the CHP plant with a bespoke
100kw wind turbine designed by Northern Power, which is expected
to go live in March.
"One of the biggest challenges we had with the turbine was
approval by the national air traffic service because we are
so close to Heathrow," he explained. "So, the contribution
of the wind turbine isn't as significant as this plant. It
provides the office lighting, which is effectively one to
two per cent of total demand."
While Holford maintained that the wind turbine is crucial
to Sky's clean energy programme, he did acknowledge that it
will also play an important role in displaying the company's
green credentials.
"Certainly the visibility of that on the M4 is important
to us," he said. "No one's going to be interested in a grey
box that is generating 40 per cent power. It wasn't so much
about PR, though - it was more about being able to maximise
every opportunity."
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