Dr. Harshit Vallecha Ph.D.
Research Associate
Summary
I am a Research Associate at School of Engineering and Built Environment, Sheffield Hallam University. I am working on multi-institutional interdisciplinary research project, Mainstreaming Gender Equality and Social Inclusion for Just Energy Transition in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania (JustGESI) program funded by UKRI. My research and teaching interests lies across the areas of sustainable energy access; just energy transition; sustainable development; community resilience; and environmental policy and governance.
About
I am an interdisciplinary researcher with background in engineering, environment, and social sciences. Prior to joining Sheffield Hallam, I have worked as Postdoctoral Research Associate at Centre for Sustainable Transitions: Energy, Environment, and Resilience (STEER) at Loughborough University and presently associated as Visiting Fellow at STEER. I have completed my PhD in Sustainable Energy Transition and Policy from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. My doctoral thesis was aimed to investigate the role of community renewable energy systems to provide clean, reliable, and last mile electricity access to underserved rural population of India. During my doctoral program, I have worked at University of Nebraska Lincoln, USA as visiting researcher through Fulbright Fellowship program. My bachelor’s and master’s degree are in Electrical Engineering from Dayalbagh Educational Institute and National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra respectively from India.
Teaching
School of Engineering and Built Environment
College of Business, Technology and Engineering
RIKE Hub: Sustainable Energy, Fuels & Transportation
2025-2026: Mainstreaming Gender Equality and Social Inclusion for a Just Energy Transition in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania (JustGESI); Funding: UKRI; Role: Postdoctoral Research Associate; Working on building the capacity of women and marginalised groups to improve their participation in energy engineering education and energy sector workforce for just energy transition in countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.
2023-24: Community Energy and Sustainable Energy Transitions in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique (CESET); Funding: Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), UKRI. Role: Postdoctoral Research Associate; Worked on evaluating the landscape of Community Energy Systems and their role in building community resilience to provide sustainable energy access across vulnerable geographies of Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique.
2023-24: Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS); Funding: UK International Development; Role: Postdoctoral Research Associate; Worked on providing technical and research mentoring to MECS partners for scaling the uptake of electric cooking services in Global South.
2020-2022: Renewable Energy EMPOWERing European and InDian communities (RE-EMPOWERED); Role: Research Scholar; Funding: European Commission and Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India.
2020-21: Evaluating Community Energy Barriers and Enablers for Sustainable Energy Access in India; Role: Fulbright Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow; Funding: Fulbright Commission, U.S. Department of State.
2020-21: Energy in Rural Jharkhand; Role: Student Fellow; Funding: Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy (ISEP), Oak Foundation.
2019-2022: Exploring Future of Renewable Energy and its Implication in Reduction of Carbon Footprint in India; Role: Research Scholar; Funding: Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).
Research
- Industry and Innovation Research Institute
Relevant publications:
H. Vallecha, M. Gebreslassie, F. Filli, C. Hara, C. Gogoda, A. Assefa, L.S. To, J. Kirshner, V.C. Broto, “How to build resilient community energy systems? Lessons from Malawi and Ethiopia”, Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 2025, 5 (1): 15013. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2634-4505/adb0eb
H. Vallecha, L.S. To, “Community Energy and Community Resilience: A Multi-dimensional Perspective” In: Castán Broto, V. (eds) Community Energy and Sustainable Energy Transitions. Palgrave Macmillan, Springer Nature, 2024. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-57938-7_2
Harshit Vallecha, Debraj Bhattacharjee, John Kalu Osiri, Prabha Bhola, “Evaluation of barriers and enablers through integrative multicriteria decision mapping: Developing sustainable community energy in Indian context”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2021, 138: 110565. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032120308492
Harshit Vallecha, Prabha Bhola, “Sustainability and replicability framework: Actor network theory based critical case analysis of renewable community energy projects in India”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2019, 108: 194-208. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032119301935
A. Sharan, J. Shekhar, H. Vallecha, V. Nandan, M. Aklin, B. Blankenship and J. Urpelainen “Creating a Renewable Ecosystem: Roadmap to Clean Energy Transition in Jharkhand, India” ISEP Report, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, USA, April 2021. https://sais-isep.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ISEP_Clean-Energy-Roadmap-for-Jharkhand.pdf
H. Vallecha, M. Aklin, “An assessment of electricity access in Jharkhand and the impact of Saubhagya”, ISEP Policy Brief, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, USA, Issue 7, 2020. https://sais-isep.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/an-assessment-of-electricity-access-in-jharkhand-and-the-impact-of-saubhagya.pdf
H. Vallecha, “Field visit summary of Community Energy projects and interventions in Malawi”, CESET report, 2023. https://cesetproject.com/sites/default/files/Fieldwork%20visit%20CES%20project%20Malawi_October%202023.pdf
V. Nandan, H. Vallecha, “An Integrated Energy Approach Could Improve Access in Jharkhand”, Power for All (Op-ed), 2021. https://medium.com/energy-access-india/an-integrated-energy-approach-could-improve-access-in-jharkhand-study-11d5dbbaddfa
J. Shekhar, H. Vallecha, “Jharkhand’s Clean Energy Transition — Challenges and Pathways”, Power for All (Op-ed), 2021. https://medium.com/energy-access-india/jharkhands-clean-energy-transition-challenges-and-pathways-13893e6ba8e0
Harshit Vallecha, Prabha Bhola, “Prioritization of Challenges and Enablers associated with Community Energy Projects in Indian Context”, Energy Procedia, 2019, 158: 3886-3892. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610219308975
Harshit Vallecha, Shivam, “Smart Utilization of Solar and Wind Power Farm Inverters as SSSC in Grid Connected Renewable Energy System”, 6th IEEE International Conference on Power Systems, 2016 (ICPS), March 2016. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7584189
Harshit Vallecha, Shivam, “Power Flow Management and Voltage Control using Solar and Wind Farm Inverters in Multi Line System”, 12th IEEE India International Conference (INDICON), December 2015. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7443511/citations?tabFilter=papers#citations
2025-2026: Mainstreaming Gender Equality and Social Inclusion for a Just Energy Transition in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania (JustGESI); Funding: UKRI; Role: Postdoctoral Research Associate; Working on building the capacity of women and marginalised groups to improve their participation in energy engineering education and energy sector workforce for just energy transition in countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.
2023-24: Community Energy and Sustainable Energy Transitions in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique (CESET); Funding: Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), UKRI. Role: Postdoctoral Research Associate; Worked on evaluating the landscape of Community Energy Systems and their role in building community resilience to provide sustainable energy access across vulnerable geographies of Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique.
2023-24: Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS); Funding: UK International Development; Role: Postdoctoral Research Associate; Worked on providing technical and research mentoring to MECS partners for scaling the uptake of electric cooking services in Global South.
2020-2022: Renewable Energy EMPOWERing European and InDian communities (RE-EMPOWERED); Role: Research Scholar; Funding: European Commission and Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India.
2020-21: Evaluating Community Energy Barriers and Enablers for Sustainable Energy Access in India; Role: Fulbright Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow; Funding: Fulbright Commission, U.S. Department of State.
2020-21: Energy in Rural Jharkhand; Role: Student Fellow; Funding: Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy (ISEP), Oak Foundation.
2019-2022: Exploring Future of Renewable Energy and its Implication in Reduction of Carbon Footprint in India; Role: Research Scholar; Funding: Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).
Collaborators:
Loughborough University; University of Sheffield; University of York; University of Strathclyde; University of Cape Town; Mzuzu University; Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences; Addis Ababa University; Mekelle University; Eduardo Mondlane University; Ardhi University; Centre for Research of Governance and Development; TaTEDO -Sustainable Energy Services Organization.
Sponsors:
UK Research and Innovation; UK International Development; US Department of State; United States India Educational Foundation; European Commission; Oak Foundation; Indian Council of Social Science Research.
Publications
Journal articles
Vallecha, H., Gebreslassie, M.G., Filli, F., Hara, C., Gogoda, C., Assefa, A., ... Castan Broto, V. (2025). How to build Resilient Community Energy Systems? Lessons from Malawi and Ethiopia. Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 5 (1). http://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/adb0eb