Isabelle Kocher was appointed as ENGIE Group CEO on May 3. She succeeds Gérard Mestrallet, who becomes Chairman of the Board. Isabelle Kocher unveils her roadmap to establish ENGIE as a leading force in the energy transition over the next three years.
"We are engaged in a process of extremely profound transformational change, because we see a future in which the world of energy will be very different," said Isabelle Kocher on-air with RTL the day after her appointment.
"We want to focus our investments solely on generating low carbon energy and innovative integrated solutions for our customers," Isabelle Kocher told French daily newspaper Le Parisien this March.
That clear statement marks a pivotal strategic and organizational turning point for ENGIE. Acting now to anticipate tomorrow's energy world, conceiving connected solutions and driving innovation through its stakeholders, employees and customers: these are the action points defined by the Group's new management team. Their aim is clear: to establish ENGIE as leader of the global energy transition. The task of achieving that goal falls to a woman who knows the Group very well: Isabelle Kocher.
Having begun her career in manufacturing and finance, Isabelle Kocher joined the French Ministry for the Economy in 1997 with responsibility for the telecommunications and defense budgets. From 1999 to 2002, she was industrial affairs advisor to Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. She joined the SUEZ Group in 2002 as head of corporate strategy and organization, before moving on to head up Lyonnaise des Eaux. In 2011, she was appointed as Chief Financial Officer of GDF SUEZ (now ENGIE), and as the company's Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer in 2014.
On May 3 this year, she was officially appointed as CEO with a mission to lead and deliver the Group's transformation plan.
The world of energy is currently undergoing a root-and-branch revolution that will require us to generate and consume energy in a completely different way. Isabelle Kocher is responding to this challenge by focusing on developing the decentralized generation of decarbonized energy and on driving innovation in areas such as connected solutions and smart grids. The Group is therefore more committed than ever to bringing about the energy transition by achieving its aim of expanding its role as a generator of energy from clean sources, such as solar and wind power. In October last year, ENGIE announced that it would be launching no new coal-fueled generating projects. The Group has also signed an agreement to sell its holdings in two coal-fired generating plants; one in Indonesia and the other in India. This disposal will reduce the Group's coal-fired power generating capacity by 16%.
ENGIE recently set up the ACCELERATE task force to redesign its business portfolio to enable new investment.
To accompany this strategy, the Group introduced a new organizational structure at the beginning of this year. 24 Business Units have been created to optimize Group activities and respond even more effectively to the needs and expectations of stakeholders and customers in all ENGIE operating countries.
The Group has also introduced its Lean 2018 operational performance plan with the aim of reducing its net costs by €1 billion within three years.