Dresden, December 8, 2022 | Scaling up: Sunfire, a leading German developer and manufacturer of electrolyzers, wins former energy industry top executive Frank Mastiaux as new Chairman of the Advisory Board. Effective December 8, he succeeds Sunfire’s founder and former CEO Carl Berninghausen. The personnel change is the next step in supporting the company’s growth ambitions.
Mastiaux, who was most recently CEO of the third-largest German energy company EnBW, will provide Sunfire with decisive expertise for shaping the hydrogen market of the future. The Dresden-based company is currently upscaling its electrolyzer production capacities to meet the growing demand for green hydrogen. The appointment of Frank Mastiaux as Chairman of the Advisory Board will contribute to Sunfire’s continued growth and success story.
“We are delighted to welcome Frank Mastiaux aboard,” says Sunfire’s CEO Nils Aldag. “As a highly experienced energy industry executive, he will strongly support our strategy to become a world leading electrolyzer manufacturer. His great track-record of business leadership and growing new businesses as well as his forward-thinking and innovative mindset makes him a perfect fit for Sunfire.”
As former CEO of EnBW, Mastiaux has transformed one of the largest German utilities from a fossil and nuclear based energy company into a frontrunner of the energy transition. He has been deeply involved in all matters pertaining to renewable energies, with more than 15 years of comprehensive experience in this field. This included founding and building out E.ON’s Climate and Renewables division from 2007 to 2011, and significantly fostering EnBW’s growth and internationalization in this sector, e.g. pushing it to become a leading company in the offshore wind business.
Throughout his career, Frank Mastiaux consistently identified promising cleantech solutions that could accelerate the energy transition and advocated for their breakthroughs.
“There is a great need for green hydrogen and electrolysis technologies for transforming industries towards net-zero. I look forward to joining the Sunfire team to grow and support the industrial electrolysis business with clients that are undergoing corporate climate transformations,” Frank Mastiaux says. “Sunfire combines the best of three worlds: the reliability of an industrial player based on German engineering, the expertise of a pure player for green hydrogen and the hunger for innovation of a tech company built on strong R&D capabilities.”
Carl Berninghausen, previous Chairman of the Advisory Board, has been Sunfire’s CEO and key investor until he handed over to his co-founders Nils Aldag and Christian von Olshausen in 2020. He significantly shaped the success of Sunfire and paved the way for today’s industrial growth.
Image: ©Catrin Moritz
Sunfire is a global leader in the production of industrial electrolyzers based on pressurized alkaline and solid oxide (SOEC) technologies. With its electrolysis solutions, Sunfire is addressing a key challenge of today’s energy system: Providing renewable hydrogen and syngas as climate-neutral substitutes for fossil energy. Sunfire’s innovative and proven electrolysis technology enables the transformation of carbon-intensive industries that are currently dependent on fossil-based oil, gas, or coal. The company employs more than 650 people located in Germany and Switzerland.
For more information visit www.sunfire.de
