Economy

Renewable Energy Association set to raise curtain on new chief exec

Published

11 years ago

June 13, 2013

Blue & Green Tomorrow

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) – the trade body for the renewables industry – will unveil chief executive Gaynor Hartnell’s replacement at its annual awards dinner on Thursday evening, Blue & Green Tomorrow can reveal.

Hartnell, who was formerly head of policy, replaced Philip Wolfe as head of the REA in 2010. She revealed her intentions to step down from the role in March, and the association has been on the lookout for her successor in the months since.

The curtain will be officially pulled back on the new chief executive at the British Renewable Energy Awards 2013 on Thursday evening – an event organised annually by the REA.

Speaking to Blue & Green Tomorrow for The Guide to Limitless Clean Energy 2013 about the hardest part of her departure, Hartnell said, “I feel like I’m walking away from something I’ve been striving to achieve for 20 years now – but the job’s not actually done.

Click here to read The Guide to Limitless Clean Energy 2013

“I wanted there to be one single, professional, united and well-resourced trade body for renewables. That became my objective not long after I started working at the British Wind Energy Association [now RenewableUK] back in 1995.

“I’ve not achieved it during my time and I’m not sure anyone could’ve achieved it actually. Just at this moment, if anything, it’s looking more distant now than it ever did, which is a frustration.”

Asked to give advice to her then-unknown replacement, Hartnell added, “Running a pan-technology trade association is difficult, but you’ve got to have some principles and you’ve got to stick to them like a limpet otherwise things start to fall apart.

“If I regret anything, it’s not making that point clearer all the way through.”

The shortlist for this year’s event, which takes place at the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in London, includes the likes of Good Energy, Solarcentury and Westmill Solar Co-operative.

To book a last-minute place at the event, which features after dinner entertainment from former Conservative politician Michael Portillo, click here.