Electra Appoints Simon Wandke as Chief Commercial Officer

May 02, 2023 at 10:00 AM EDT

Electra, a clean iron company with a solution to decarbonize iron and steelmaking, has appointed Simon Wandke as its Chief Commercial Officer. With over 40 years of experience developing and executing multi-country commercial strategies at major global mining companies, Wandke brings a deep understanding of the mine-to-metal value chain to Electra.

Most recently, Wandke served as the CEO of ArcelorMittal Mining until late 2021, and prior to that held senior executive roles at Ferrexpo, Destra, and BHP where he was responsible for leading strategy, marketing, business development, and sales teams across various countries, including Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Switzerland, UK, Canada, and the USA. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Swinburne University, and the University of Melbourne.

“Despite steel’s critical role in sustainable infrastructure, the steelmaking process continues to be one of the largest industrial producers of carbon dioxide. To address this issue, the industry needs low-carbon technology that eliminates emissions from ironmaking – which accounts for the majority of emissions in steel production,” said Simon Wandke, Chief Commercial Officer of Electra. “Electra’s innovative solution has the potential to eliminate 3.7 gigatonnes or 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions from global steel production producing clean iron for high quality steel. I am thrilled to be part of this initiative pushing forward a cleaner era of steelmaking.”

"All that Electra has accomplished to date is to the credit of its amazing team," said Sandeep Nijhawan, CEO and co-founder of Electra. "Simon has been the chair of our commercial advisory board since 2022, and we couldn't be more thrilled to name him as Chief Commercial Officer as we advance our low-temperature clean iron production solution."

This announcement follows a significant year for Electra, during which the company announced it secured $85 million in funding from prominent investors led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and will have a clean-iron pilot plant by the end of 2023. The company also collaborated with Nucor Corporation, the largest steel producer in the United States.

Electra is excited to welcome Simon Wandke as its Chief Commercial Officer and looks forward to his contributions to the company's continued success.

About Electra

Electra, a clean iron company, is bending the trajectory of climate change by electrifying iron refining. Our products — pure green iron and other green feedstocks — remove gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions from steel production and other hard-to-abate industries, accelerating a return to a healthy carbon balance on earth. The company is headquartered in Boulder, CO with a development facility in Boston, MA. To learn more about Electra's mission, visit: www.electra.earth.