The India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) has conferred its Outstanding Leadership Award to Dr Rahul Walawalkar, President and MD, Customized Energy Solutions India.
Presented at a glittering award ceremony held as part of the recently-concluded India Energy Storage Week, 2024, the award recognized his exceptional contributions to the energy storage industry, both in India and abroad.
A votary of accelerating scale-up of clean energy, energy storage and e-mobility, Dr Walawalkar has been called the 'Energy Storage Man of India' by government authorities, including Ghanashyam Prasad, Chairman of the country's Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
The title sums up Dr Walawalkar's impact in India, where he founded the India Energy Storage Alliance and serves as its President. He has also served as a board member for Energy Storage Association, USA, during 2009-15, and as the Chair for Global Energy Storage Alliance during 2018-20 and as a board member of NAATBATT since 2023.
Dr Walawalkar has helped shape energy regulations and policies around the world. In the government sphere, he has served on committees set up by the US Department of Energy and the Federal Electricity Regulatory Commission (USA), as well as India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Power, NITI Aayog (the country's government think tank), and both its national electricity authorities – the Central Electricity Authority and the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.
He has also served at multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and the European Space Agency.
He has previously been honored with the 2024 IPPAI Award for Outstanding Achievement in Energy Storage and the 2020 Global Young Entrepreneur Excellence Award at the World Renewable Energy Technology Congress for his contribution and leadership in energy storage and renewable energy.
He also received the India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) President's Award for outstanding contribution to the growth of smart grids in India in 2018, among his many accolades.