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The Association For Renewable Energy and Clean Technology
AbbreviationREA
Formation26 June 2001
TypeTrade association
Legal statusNon-profit company (No. 04241430)
PurposeRenewable energy industry in the UK
HeadquartersThe Strand, London
Region served
UK
Membershipc. 500 companies
Chief Executive
Nina Skorupska
Main organ
REA Board
Staff20-30

The REA (the Association for Renewable Energy & Clean Technology) is the largest renewable energy and clean technology trade association in the UK, with over 500 member companies[1]. The REA covers technologies including: green gas, biomass power, electric vehicles, energy storage, finance, innovation, landfill gas, large scale power & markets, organics (including composting, anaerobic digestate, and recycling), renewable transport fuels, solar power, waste to energy & wood heat. Over time, the REA has been joined by other industry bodies such as Biomass UK, the Wood Heat Association, and the Association for Organics Recycling. Each technology or area of interest has a dedicated member forum, and the REA organises these areas into four strategy pillars: renewable power & flexibility, heat and cooling, circular bioresources, and transport.

Over the last 20 years, the REA has contributed to the introduction, and the responsible and effective development, of various government incentives and support schemes such as the Contracts for Difference, Renewables Transport Fuels Obligation, and the Feed-in-Tariff. The REA is a private limited company, limited by a guarantee, and is a not-for-profit company, that is primarily funded from member subscriptions.

The REA’s subsidiary company, Renewable Energy Assurance Limited (REAL)[2], operates the Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC)[3], the Green Gas Certification Scheme[4], and various other standards & regulatory schemes.  

The REA hosts the British Renewable Energy Awards[5], the largest awards ceremony for these industries in the country.

Since August 2013, the REA has been led by CEO Dr Nina Skorupska, CBE, FEI[6].

History

The REA was established in 2001 as a not-for-profit trade association, representing British renewable energy producers and promoting the use of renewable energy in the UK.[7]

The concept of a trade association to represent the emerging renewable energy industries was conceived at a meeting in 2001 between David Byers, Rupert Fraser, DW May, Peter Prior, Peter Wolfe, Peter Edwards, Godfrey Bevan and Rory Tait. On the 26th of June 2001, the Renewable Power Association (RPA) was officially established and incorporated by UK Companies House. The RPA was formed by a combination of other trade associations, including British Biogen, the British Biogas Association, and the Landfill Gas Association. The founding CEO of the RPA was David Byers.

The RPA was renamed the “Renewable Energy Association” in 2005[8], where David Cameron attended the launch of the new organisation.

In 2012, the Association for Organics Recycling (AfOR) merged with the REA[9], becoming the "Organics Recycling Group" under the REA[10]. AfOR has continued to receive high industry praise after it joined the REA, first called the Organics Recycling Group, and now the REA Organics Forum.

In 2019, to better highlight the importance of the clean technology companies within its membership, the company name was officially changed again to The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology in October 2019[6].

Organisation

The REA is organised into 14 member forums, which each cover a different aspect of renewable energy and clean technology. Within these 14 groups, comprised of representatives from various REA member companies, a “steering group” is then elected by the members of the forum, who meet more frequently to decide the priorities and direction of the forum, as well as provide support to the REA policy team.

Some REA Forums contain Working Groups (such as the Longer Duration Energy Storage Working Group, the Hydrogen Working Group and the Grid Securities Working Group), which are time-limited special-interest sub-groups that work on a specific task or issue. From the elected steering groups, a forum Chair is then elected every 3 years to lead the group. All member companies, regardless of their size or the amount they pay in membership fees, gains a single vote in these decisions.

The day-to-day running of the trade association, and all of the policy work, events and inputs to government, are handled by the REA Team. This group of staff members are made of up of policy analysts and specialists, who run the forums and are responsible for representing their technology. They are guided by the Director of Policy, the Chief Operating Officer and the CEO.

High-level strategic decision-making within the organisation is provided by the REA Board, who are elected to serve their terms at the REA’s Annual General Meeting, as expounded in the REA’s bye-laws. Any REA member company can put forward a potential new board member. The REA Board members are led by the elected Chairperson, and their leadership and decisions are then actioned by the full-time REA Team.

Previous CEOs of the Association for Renewable Energy & Clean Technology include David Byers, Philip Wolfe, Mike Simms, and Gaynor Hartnell. The current CEO is Dr Nina Skorupska, CBE FEI.

In 2013, the REA (then the Renewable Energy Association) created the Policy Board, an elected group of experts volunteered by member organisations to support the REA’s technology specific forums in the day-to-day process of informing and empowering their members.

Campaigns

The REA has played a significant role in the delivery of support for renewables in the UK, helping design and implement a number of schemes and support mechanisms. The REA acts on behalf of its members by keeping them informed of relevant British government policy changes and consultations, and by feeding in expertise, evidence, and collective consultation responses back to the British government.

In its time, the RPA and REA has been critical of the lack of early Government support and ambition for renewable energy in the UK, often giving a unified voice alongside other trade associations to the grievances and priorities of its members[11][12][13][14]. In more recent years, as the Government has made significant statements of support for the decarbonisation of the UK economy, the REA has criticised the lack of direct action and supporting policies following high-level ambitious commitments[15].

The REA puts an emphasis on the diverse issues that exist in attempting to decarbonise the UK economy, and consequently, that a diverse range of solutions will be necessary to reach the UK Government target of net-zero by 2050. To this end, the REA has supported biomass, solar PV, energy from waste, home heating efficiency improvements, energy storage, renewable transport fuels, and many more technologies, as well as clean technology innovation[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25].

In addition to campaigning for Government support for the organics sector, the REA provides information on health and safety at operational sites, and improving the quality of organic outputs[26].

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the REA aimed to support its members and others by making the UK Government aware of the impact of the pandemic and lockdown restrictions on industry, networking between members to dispose of additional food and drinks waste caused by the closure of restaurants, and providing details to members of financial support available[27][28][29].   

Below is a list of key campaigns which the REA has worked on since 2001, including under its previous name as the “Renewable Power Association”, and of various organisations who were later integrated into the REA.

  • The Renewables Obligation, designed to encourage electricity generation from eligible renewable sources in the United Kingdom.
  • Feed-in Tariffs, which are payments made from energy suppliers to a property or organisation who generates their own electricity using technology such as solar panels or wind turbines and feeds any surplus back to the grid. The REA led the campaign for Feed-in Tariffs in the UK with Friends of the Earth EWNI.
  • The Renewable Heat Incentive, which is a payment system in England, Scotland, and Wales for the generation of heat from renewable energy sources.
  • Contracts for Difference, which are contracts offered by the British Government to protect project developers facing high upfront costs and long lifetimes from volatile wholesale electricity prices[30].
  • The Green Gas Support Scheme, which provides financial incentives for new anaerobic digestion biomethane plants to increase the proportion of green gas on the grid[31].
  • The Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation, which is a requirement on transport fuel suppliers to ensure that a certain percentage of all road vehicle transport fuel is supplied from sustainable renewable sources.
  • The British Standard’s Institute (BSI) Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) 100 & 110, concerning compost quality and anaerobic digestate quality[32][33].  
  • The Quality Protocols (QPs), which explain when a waste derived material can be regarded as a non-waste product and no longer subject to waste controls[34]. The REA collaborated with other UK trade associations to fund the revision of the QPs as required by the Environment Agency in 2020/21, and is part of the task-and-finish group[35].
  • The Compostable Packaging Certification Scheme, established under the Association for Organics Recycling (AfOR, which became the Organics Recycling Group (ORG) in 2013 when it merged with the REA), and now run by Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd (REAL) as the Compostable Materials Certification Scheme[36].
  • The Green Gas Certification Scheme[37], run by REAL[38].
  • All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Energy Storage, for which the REA was the secretariat between its founding in July 2015 and its last registration in November 2019[39].
  • All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Electric Vehicles, for which the REA is the secretariat since November 2017[40].
  • The Keep on Track project, which was co-funded by the European Union’s (EUs) Intelligent Energy Europe Programme, and aimed at monitoring the actual development of renewable energy in the EU against the trajectory outlined in the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) Directive[41].
  • The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Hydrogen Business Models Working Group, which will advise on topics in relation to a consultation on the design of a business model for low carbon hydrogen[42].
  • The Energy Networks Association (ENA) Gas Goes Green Advisory Group, providing early input to the programme aiming to accelerate the switch from natural gas to hydrogen for household heating and power[43].
  • Green Gas Day, which is the UK’s largest green gas industry gathering, organised in collaboration with CNG Services Ltd, and hosted since 2012 at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, UK[44][45][46].  
  • The campaign for net-zero aviation in the UK, led by the Jet Zero Council, which is a partnership between industry and the UK Government with the aim of delivering zero-emission transatlantic flight within a generation. Dr Nina Skorupska CBE is a member of this council in her capacity as the CEO of the REA[47].

Biofuels

Biofuels are one area within REA's scope and some elements have proved controversial.[48] REA has reported significant reduction in greenhouse gases can be obtained by use of biofuels rather than fossil fuels.[49] In 2014 REA was criticised for encouraging reliance on large non renewable energy company members including the operators of Drax power station and Eggborough power station and lobbying to expand the use of food crops as biofuels including palm oil and soya.[48][disputed (for: This criticism may misrepresent some REA's position on food biofuels)  – discuss]

Electric vehicles

EA, through its subsidiary REAL, launched the UK's first Electric Vehicle Consumer Code (EVCC) in 2020, a voluntary scheme for domestic charge point installers.[50]

Electricity grid

On 21 September 2021 REA published its report Energy Transition Readiness Index 2021 and warned that urgent action was needed make the UK Electricity grid more flexible to cate for more variable types of energy coming online, one of the points raised that as electricity storage facilities were treated as generators and charge both for transmission of electricity to and from the storage over the grid which was a disincentive for investment in the technology.[51]

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ "About Us". REA. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd - REAL". www.realschemes.org.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC)". www.recc.org.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Green Gas Certification Scheme". www.greengas.org.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Winners of REA British Renewable Energy Awards announced | Bioenergy Insight Magazine". www.bioenergy-news.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  6. ^ a b "THE ASSOCIATION FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY AND CLEAN TECHNOLOGY overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  7. ^ "About Us". REA. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  8. ^ "THE ASSOCIATION FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY AND CLEAN TECHNOLOGY overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  9. ^ "AfOR members approve merger with REA". letsrecycle.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  10. ^ "REA Organics celebrates 25 years". letsrecycle.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  11. ^ "DTI 'damaging' green power sector". 14 October 2005. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  12. ^ "UK pressure groups laud new climate change ministry". Reuters. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Clean technology sector suffering crisis of confidence". the Guardian. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  14. ^ "Waste not... Britain is lagging behind other countries in renewable". The Independent. 21 February 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  15. ^ Letters (27 August 2019). "Government rhetoric on green energy needs to be matched by action". the Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Biomass Barriers | Biomassmagazine.com". biomassmagazine.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Solar power: a niche or serious energy source for the UK?". theecologist.org. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Calculating the Renewable Fraction of Energy from Waste | Biomassmagazine.com". biomassmagazine.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  19. ^ "Calculating the Renewable Fraction of Energy from Waste | Biomassmagazine.com". biomassmagazine.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Powerful Crops | Biomassmagazine.com". biomassmagazine.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  21. ^ "Cut VAT for green home improvements and repairs, MPs urge". the Guardian. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  22. ^ "£365k battery system could save Bristol Council £16k a year". BBC News. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  23. ^ "BBC World Service - In the Balance, Biofuels and Food Prices". BBC. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  24. ^ "New regulations to double the use of sustainable renewable fuels by 2020". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  25. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, 07/07/2008". BBC. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  26. ^ "Composting - Recycling biodegradable waste". www.hse.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  27. ^ "COVID-19 - GREEN RECOVERY - BUSINESS CONTINUITY". REA. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  28. ^ "Coronavirus support from Business Representative Organisations and Trade Associations". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  29. ^ "Destroying spoilt beer, cider, wine or made-wine during coronavirus (COVID-19)". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  30. ^ "Contracts for Difference". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  31. ^ "Green Gas Support Scheme and Green Gas Levy". Ofgem. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  32. ^ "Pas100 - Standards - CCS". www.qualitycompost.org.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  33. ^ "BSI PAS 110: Producing Quality Anaerobic Digestate | WRAP". wrap.org.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  34. ^ "Quality protocols: converting waste into non-waste products". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  35. ^ "Waste quality protocols review". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  36. ^ "Compostable Materials Certification Scheme". www.compostablematerials.org.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  37. ^ "Green Gas Certification Scheme". www.greengas.org.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  38. ^ "Green Gas". ECOHZ. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  39. ^ "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups as at 11 September 2019: Energy Storage". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  40. ^ "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups as at 25 August 2021: Electric Vehicles". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  41. ^ "Keep On Track - About Us". keepontrack.eu. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  42. ^ "Design of a business model for low carbon hydrogen". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  43. ^ "Gas Goes Green - supporting hydrogen". Energy Networks Association. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  44. ^ "Green Gas Day". CNG Services. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  45. ^ "UK Green Gas Day 2021". www.nnfcc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  46. ^ "UK Green Gas Day 2021 to be held in Birmingham | Bioenergy Insight Magazine". www.bioenergy-news.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  47. ^ "Jet Zero Council". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  48. ^ a b Bastable 2014.
  49. ^ Xiyan 2020, p. 4.
  50. ^ FleetNews 2020.
  51. ^ GridBeyond 2021.

Sources

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