The Renewable Energy Association represents the UK’s renewable energy industry, covering all renewable sectors across power, heat, transport and renewable gas. The REA is a not-for-profit industry association, established in 2001. Since then it has grown rapidly to become the UK's largest renewable industry body. 

The REA has a proven track-record of achieving breakthroughs in UK renewables policy and legislation, a ‘one member one vote’ ethos, a co-operative approach and a coherent perspective across the whole field of renewable energy. The recently formed Wood Heat Association (WHA) is a subsidiary of the umbrella trade body REA.  Also see UK Solar by the REA at www.uksolar.org.uk.

Our members comprise a wide variety of organisations including generators, project developers, installers, fuel producers and distributors, equipment producers and service providers. Members range in size from major multinationals through to small installers.

If you wish to discuss our membership categories to ensure the best fit for your company our Membership Team are happy to speak with you. Contact them by email on membership@r-e-a.net or membership@woodheatassociation.org.uk or telephone them on 020 7925 3570.

You can complete the Wood Heat Association membership form online or use the printable version in the downloads section at the bottom of this page.

How to join the REA

You can now apply for REA membership via our online registration page or application form. Follow the prompts, entering all relevant company information. Payment can be taken online by credit card or you can request an invoice to be sent to you. Your REA membership will commence upon notification by the REA membership team, who will then send out the relevant joining information and Welcome Pack.

The benefits of membership and our activities

Policy development; The sheer quantity of new renewable energy policy means it can be almost impossible to keep on top of it all. REA policy specialists, who are often UK leaders in their field, provide information to members on a daily basis to save them time and money. The REA’s various technology sector groups shape our work. For a brief introduction to these groups, please visit the member’s sector groups page.

The REA regularly lobbies Government, its departments, their agencies and Parliamentarians, through policy development and pro-active campaigns. REA has several cross-cutting groups that work closely with the REA’s technology and policy groups. Categories of membership dictate how many sector groups members can join.

Securing action; We work collaboratively with Parliamentarians, NGOs, think tanks and others to secure political support at UK and EU level.

Communications; Every week, REA emails out a member-only newsletter, containing must know information, key diary dates, a table detailing the status of the various consultations we will or will not be responding to. Each fortnight members also receive an events and opportunities newsletter, highlighting events we are running, participating in or have secured a members’ discount for. Members receive a company listing on our website www.r-e-a.net and in our on-line Directory with the option of uploading your logo. REA publish REQ, a quarterly, renewable energy magazine, crammed with news and topical articles, which is mailed to stakeholders, NGOs, MPs, REA members and is widely distributed at events and online, with a total circulation of around 30,000. Members are offered discounted rates to advertise in the magazine. REview, is the REA's authoritive annual report on the renewable energy industry, published in April. Discounted advertising rates are available to members.

Events; A number of cross-cutting set-piece events are organised by the REA throughout the year, including the celebrated annual British Renewable Energy Awards and Gala Dinner together with specific topical industry events and seminars highlighting key areas of interest such as; EMR, Planning and Grid.

Training; We also run a programme of highly successful, tailored, training workshops, offering an in-depth, very detailed session on key policy areas such as; Renewable Heat Incentive, Feed-in Tariffs and PAS100.

Discounts to affiliated organisations

The REA set up the Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd (REAL) www.renewableenergyassurance.org.uk which runs RECC (Renewable Energy Consumer Code) www.recc.org.uk with the aim of guaranteeing a high quality experience for consumers wishing to buy or lease small-scale energy generation systems for their homes. The RECC logo is a sign of excellence, that the company has agreed to abide by the high standards set out in the Renewable Energy Consumer Code. The Code is backed by the Trading Standards Institute as part of its self-regulation initiative, the Consumer Codes Approval Scheme. The CCAS was formerly run by the Office of Fair Trading. The RECC logo is a symbol of professional excellence. 

Membership with RECC is currently a requirement of MSC accreditation for installers. REA currently offer a special REA membership rate to RECC members with fewer than seven employees and an annual turnover of less than £500k.

REAL also runs the Biofertiliser Certification Scheme, an assurance scheme for the digestate standard, www.biofertiliser.org.uk, the Green Gas Certification Scheme www.greengas.org.uk, a means of contractually tracking biomethane from injection to final end use, and the Compost Certification Scheme an assurance scheme for the quality of composts, www.qualitycompost.org.uk

The REA offers a special discount for National Farmers Union (NFU) members prior to their commissioning of a renewable installation. If you’re a farmer looking to be kept abreast of key renewables information and events; simply contact the NFU, obtain your special code and receive a 50% discount off the REA Corresponding category fee.

The Wood Heat Association (WHA) is new wholly owned subsidiary of the REA. The WHA was founded in interim form in 2013 by wood heat companies seeking to establish a single trade body to represent the modern UK biomass and wood heating industry, from equipment manufacturers and installers to fuel producers and distributors. The WHA Interim Board decided to establish the WHA to the umbrella trade body the REA. Under the partnership, the WHA will benefit from the REA’s back-office support and proven policy expertise.

The WHA is the leading voice for the modern biomass and wood heating industry in the UK. A full list of WHA fees and members benefits is available on the WHA website at www.woodheatassociation.org.uk.
 

Downloads:

• REA General Flyer July 2016 - Optimised (pdf - 1.06 MB)
• REA Membership Form 2016 (pdf - 0.50 MB)
• WHA Membership Form 2016 (pdf - 0.17 MB)