The Renewable Energy Association has been representing the on-site sector since its launch in 2001. The detailed decentralised energy work is carried out in the On-site Renewables Group of the REA.
REA On-site Group – who should join?
Any organisation either directly or indirectly involved in decentralised renewable power and heat.
Benefits of membership
- How to make decentralised renewable energy policy work for you
- Opportunity to influence Government policy
- Access to industry experts
- Network with industry stakeholders
- Keep up to date with renewables in the build environment sector
The On-site Renewables Group covers the use of decentralised renewable energy systems for individual buildings, estates, communities and the commercial sector.
In recent years the REA, guided by the On-site Renewables Group, has secured major policy wins for decentralised renewable energy; the jewel in the crown being the introduction of tariffs for power and heat. This and other policy victories have seen the On-site Group almost double in size with membership now standing at over 400. There remains a huge amount of work needed, both for the future of the feed in tariffs and the next phase of the renewable heat incentive.
Group members include manufacturers, installers and suppliers of renewable energy systems together with representatives from local authorities, architects, legal practices and the wider construction industry – in fact anyone who needs to keep close to developments in decentralised renewables. For some, renewable energy is not their main business and a key reason for being a member is access to the REA’s swift expert analysis of key policy documents, saving time otherwise spent in reading and evaluating them.
With such a wide representation the Group is able to debate and act on a wide range of policy issues such as; financial incentives, taxation, zero carbon buildings, planning agenda, accreditation of small scale products and installers.
Main Policy Areas:
- Financial incentives - e.g. Feed-in Tariffs and the Renewable Heat Incentive
- Taxation
- Planning Agenda
- Accreditation of installers and certification of micro-generation products
- Government’s micro-generation strategy and related programmes
- Zero carbon buildings
- Code for Sustainable Homes
- Metering and distributed generation issues
The technologies covered by these cross-cutting issues include:
- PV
- Solar thermal
- Micro-hydro
- Small-scale wind
- Biomass heating and CHP
- Heat pumps, ground and air
- Anaerobic digestion