RenewableUK said McNeal will take up his new post in April, replacing long-serving CEO Maria McCaffery.

McNeal is currently director of change at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), where he has also previously headed the Office for Renewable Energy Deployment.

McNeal will join RenewableUK – which is mainly geared to lobbying for the wind and marine energy sectors – at a crucial time.

Britain’s