REA appoints Nina Skorupska new chief executive

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has appointed Dr Nina Skorupska as its new chief executive, three months after Gaynor Hartnell announced that she would step down from the position.


Dr Skorupska will take up her role on July 29 after the announcement was made at the REA’s British Renewable Energy Awards yesterday.

A chemist with over 25 years in the energy industry, Dr Skorupska joined National Power in 1993 as a fuel specialist and moved through the ranks to become the first female Power Station Manager of RWE npower’s Didcot B.

Since then she has led a UK energy trading team, and has been Director of Technology Services, spent time in Germany as RWE Group’s Director of Performance Improvement, and then the Netherlands where she was Chief Technology Officer at Essent NV, a wholly-owned company of RWE Group and the Netherlands’ largest energy company.

There she was responsible for its entire generation fleet, innovation, R&D and renewable energy developments.

Chair of the board of directors, Martin Wright, said: “We are delighted that Nina is taking up the helm. She has a an impressive background, and a great understanding of not only the complex technical issues relating to energy, and the central importance of renewable energy, but also the challenges facing the industry. I am very confident that she will be a very effective and powerful champion for the industry, bringing, as she does, the strong industry and business background to the Association.”

At the beginning of March, Gaynor Hartnell, who had been with the REA since its inception, announced that she would be standing down in order to pursue other interests.

Hartnell said: “The REA will be in excellent hands, which is very important to me considering my role in catalysing its formation. I shall be on hand to offer advice and to pursue some specific projects, but am also looking forward to widening my interests outside of the Association.”

Skorupska welcomed her new role and highlighted the UK’s challenge to accelerate the transition to a lower carbon economy.

“Electricity generation needs to become virtually zero carbon by 2030, and renewables will have an increasing role in transport and heating. Even though the economic climate makes investors wary, the renewables sector is well-placed to bring us out of recession and create employment with a growth rate of 16% per annum to 2020,” she said.

“Renewable energy in the UK is important for many reasons, a point I’m certainly going to be stressing. Whilst carbon reduction is vitally important, it’s also about creating a secure energy future, reducing dependency on imports from geopolitically challenging regions, not creating wastes, driving innovation for a sustainable life and so much more.”

Leigh Stringer

Action inspires action. Stay ahead of the curve with sustainability and energy newsletters from edie

Subscribe