The Association for Renewable Energy & Clean Technology (REA) has been part of the UK trade association landscape for many years. When I speak to the new chief executive, Trevor Hutchings, he has been in post, replacing REA’s long-serving and respected chief executive Nina Skorupska, for just a week – coincidentally, much the same time the new Labour government had been in power. Given that energy is one of Labour’s handful of ‘missions’ as it takes power, I ask him how he might introduce the REA among the long list of green or energy organisations that will be knocking on the door of the new government. He ticks off other trade associations, for example, “EnergyUK is perhaps more focused towards retail and the power sector. RenewableUK has traditionally focussed on wind”. The REA, he says, “is everything else – the whole of the renewable energy landscape apart from offshore wind”.
I ask whether the “everything else” description is a difficult ‘sell’ for the organisation, but he thinks the opposite is true. He explains, “I think it’s a real strength of the organisation that there is a body that can talk across the system, because many of the issues are common across the different technology sectors.” At the same time, “Where our members need us to deep dive into single technologies we are able to do that too.”

REA is “everything else – the whole of the renewable energy landscape apart from offshore wind”

He explains that a number of the challenges are cross-sector – skills, or green finance, for example. He says government is often accused of not having a systems view and if it did have, “perhaps you would have predicted the grid constraint we are suffering, the shortage of skills, or challenges in the future where the role of the consumer will be central. It’s one of the real strengths of the REA to look across that piece as well as diving into single technology areas of importance to our members.”
REA has absorbed a number of trade associations and technology groupings over the years and alongside that ‘whole systems’ view Hutchings notes that “we have in-depth verticals in power, heat, green gases, solar, so we are the best of both worlds. We have around 500 members, many of which participate in our policy groups. They value the role that we play in forming the industry’s view on policy areas and advocating those policy changes into government.” Looking across the system, but also into the depth of policy work: “That’s the offer to the market, “ he says.

Getting to technology readiness
Later, when we discuss some other aspects of the REA’s work he highlights another offering. He says, “We have an important subsidiary company, REAL, which looks after a number of assurance and certification schemes for the industry. [The schemes] range from supporting interoperability to provide a more frictionless experience with EVs, to supporting consumers through the Renewable Energy Consumer Code.”
He says REAL and REA make, “A really interesting blend, if you think about how technologies mature. “If technology is at an earlier stage, our members want the REA to understand the technology, look at the policy and regulatory landscape, and look at what has to be done to support it. Then as the technologies mature and become mainstream, assurance and scheme administration becomes more important and that is where the REAL functions come into play. We are providing a rounded service to our members through that journey”.
He says that in future, “I think REAL can do more. There will be more areas required for market assurance that are a key part of the delivery landscape. The deployment of renewable energy technologies in homes is in its infancy and the consumer will have to become so much more engaged and interact with different technologies”. That could fill some of the gaps in consumer protection around, for example, domestic renewables.

I think REAL can do more. There will be more areas required for market assurance that are a key part of the delivery landscape.

Talking about the REA’s offer to government, he says, “we want to help the administration on its progressive agenda by convening industry to advocate policies that will help deliver government objectives. When a government comes in after a long period in opposition it doesn’t always have the depth of analysis; it hasn’t had the civil service there to help produce real detail.” He highlights some “impressive moves” from Labour, like removing the de facto ban on onshore wind and he praises, “that general rhetoric of positivity and being clear that this is an important part of the growth narrative for this country. I think that sends really clear signals to the investment community that stretch beyond individual announcements and that is very positive.”

the real detail needs now to be taken forward and that is where the REA will be very important

He says REA can help the new government with the “difficult part” – implementation. He says, “things like setting up GB Energy, and some of the other commitments they have made, … the real detail needs now to be taken forward and that is where the REA will be very important to support that policy development”.
I ask whether the REA’s ‘everything else’ offering can be part of the new ‘whole systems’ approach to energy. Hutchings says that approach is sorely needed, and “Many commentators would say that a lack of systems thinking has held us back”, for example not predicting constraints in the development of the market.

Whole system thinking
The REA’s ‘pillars’, where it has policy groups to produce thought leadership and policy positions, are heating and cooling, power and flexibility, transport, circular bioresources and finance. That gives the organisation a broader view of the decarbonisation challenge. Hutchings says that was the right place to start. “But we have to tackle these bigger areas”.
He highlights, for example, REA areas of expertise like green gas, “which have a role where things can’t be electrified. If it won’t be hydrogen in the gas grid now, which I don’t think it will be at scale, there is the potential for biogas to replace natural gas in parts of our grid.” That is an area he thinks has been too much under the radar, but “The gas networks and others are waking up to the challenges around replacing natural gas with hydrogen in the network and I would encourage them to think further about the potential for biogas.”
In transport, the electrification of the wider vehicle fleet, “is very exciting, but somewhere where we don’t have enough policy to really get the rollout done in the most cost efficient way and in a way that gives most confidence for the consumer. It’s not frictionless. The rollout, standards, consumer complaints, interoperability – many things feel very clunky and it’s an area where we do a lot of work”.
When I ask Hutchings more about the whole system and what it means with regards to government touch points, he says, “You very quickly get into transport, into telco, into some of the data and digital technologies. All of this is coming together to facilitate the transition. What we are saying to government is that you have to look across the piece, because there are dependencies.”
He is “most encouraged” by the new ‘Mission Control’ headed by Chris Stark, saying it is “absolutely vital” to pull other departments into the transformation: “Defra has a huge role to play both for land management and waste resources policy. DfT for EVs, DLUHC on the built environment and building standards and obviously Treasury. So we need to see the new government drive performance across multiple departments to pull in the same direction.”
He believes, “One of the strengths the REA brings is that we can see from the outside where there are discrepancies and where policies are inconsistent or they rub up against each other. That is a real value that a single technology trade association wouldn’t offer.” He adds, “I would like REA to become even more impactful – the go-to trade association for those pan-sectoral issues.”

I would like REA to become even more impactful – the go-to trade association for those pan-sectoral issues

He especially wants government to include industry in its policy development, saying “We are going to be the industry who will drive the growth. We represent companies from very large corporates to SMEs, so we can bring that insight to support policymaking ambitions.”
Similarly he hopes REA will provide ‘whole system’ expertise to the new National Energy System Operator (NESO). Once again he says REA’s broad membership is a strength: “Many local authorities are our members and we are growing our membership in that area. They have a hugely important role to play in initiatives like EV charger rollout, waste management and the circular economy and heat networks”.
Waste to energy is a good example of different perspectives on systems : “From a local authority perspective it’s often about waste management, for NESO it is about energy, there can be air quality issues and it is about heat for homes. It’s a system and you can’t think about any one of those things in isolation.”