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 cooling heat and power (CCHP) 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 degrees Celsius 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 on-site 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 CCHP. 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 CCHP 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."