Dr. Rahul Walawalkar appointed as the Chair of Global Energy Storage Alliance (GESA)

• India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) was voted to Chair GESA for the next two years effective from Nov 2018 in GESA’s board meeting held in the US.
• GESA was co-founded in 2014 by the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA), California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA), China Energy Storage Alliance (CNESA), Germany Energy Storage Association (BVES), India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) and the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE)

Pune, November 25, 2018: The Global Energy Storage Alliance (GESA) has appointed Dr. Rahul Walawalkar, Executive Director of India Energy Storage Alliance, as its new Chair. The appointment was announced at the GESA board meeting held this month during Energy Storage North America in Pasadena, California, USA. Dr. Walawalkar replaces Janice Lin of the California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA) who served as chairperson since the organization’s inception.

GESA was co- founded in 2014 by six regional energy storage alliances including U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA), California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA), China Energy Storage Alliance (CNESA), Germany Energy Storage Association (BVES), India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) and the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE). It was founded with a goal of advancing education, collaboration, knowledge and proven frameworks about the benefits of energy storage globally and how to incorporate it into the electric power system in a cost-effective way.

Over the past four years, GESA has worked to foster collaboration among key stakeholders including policy makers, utilities, renewable energy community, financial institutions and environmental organizations. In 2014, GESA facilitated international collaboration between California and Germany. In 2015, the members of GESA worked with International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to hold four international stakeholder meetings that led to the launch of IRENA Energy Storage Roadmap in 2015. In 2016, the alliance selected MICRO- Microgrid Initiative for Campus and Rural Opportunities, by IESA as a flagship initiative to advance energy access. In 2017, GESA released a white paper on Utility Procurement Best Practices to summarize common considerations and best practices in utility energy storage procurement in the United States.

GESA observes 22nd September as World Energy Storage Day to highlight the importance of energy storage in the power sector and its potential and impact on the sustainability of global energy resources.

In 2017, GESA organized a webinar to provide a global energy storage market update covering US, Germany, China and India. In 2018, members of GESA arranged a series of events in the US, China and India to help increase awareness about energy storage amongst key policy makers.

Speaking on the appointment, Dr. Rahul Walawalkar, Executive Director, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) said, “It’s a privilege for us to be appointed as the chair of GESA. As a Chairman of GESA, I would like to build on the strong foundation laid in the past four years under the leadership of Janice Lin. I will strive to enhance collaboration within GESA members and various international agencies working on various aspects related to energy storage technologies. I look forward to growing GESA’s reach to include various national associations that have been formed in the past four years so that they can benefit from the experience and learnings from GESA’s founding members.”

 Ms. Janice Lin, Co-Founder and Executive Director, California Energy Storage Alliance states, “GESA is in capable hands with Dr. Walawalkar. I look forward to supporting the organization as we work diligently to support the energy storage industry around the globe. GESA’s work has never been more important, as energy storage is a game changer to achieve a more affordable, reliable and cleaner power sector globally.”

Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswire)