Shalu Agrawal, Research Associate (Energy Access) at the John Hopkins SAIS, is the local representative for the ISEP project, based in New Delhi. She recently completed her masters’ in Economics and Policy of Energy and Environment from University College London, on the UK government’s Chevening Scholarship. Prior to this, she worked as a Programme Associate at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). She also holds a BTech in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee.
Shalu is interested in policy issues related to sustainable energy transition, with a focus on rural energy needs in developing countries. In her dissertation, she conducted primary research on barriers to diffusion of solar pumps for irrigation in Ethiopia, and the role of PSS-based business models in facilitating the same. At CEEW, she has researched and published on issues concerning renewable energy policy and finance, renewables for irrigation and community services, fossil-fuel subsidies reform and future energy scenarios.
As an ISEP Fellow, Shalu is working on challenges and opportunities for rural electrification in few of the most energy poor states in India. Her work mainly focuses on understanding the energy needs, capacities and attitudes of households, enterprises and communities, to then devise financially sustainable business models for off-grid electrification.