Catherine MacGregor, Managing Director of Engie
Audio 03:33
Catherine MacGregor, in Paris, December 3, 2020 © AFP - Joel Saget
By: Ariane Gaffuri Follow
8 mins
Catherine MacGregor has been Managing Director of Engie since January 1.
The number one gas in Europe, formerly GDF-Suez, will invest up to 16 billion euros between 2021 and 2023 to accelerate its transition to renewable energies.
A mission that Catherine MacGregor must carry out.
Publicity
Born in Morocco, to parents of Corsican and Basque origin, both teachers, Catherine MacGregor succeeds Isabelle Kocher at the general management of Engie in the midst of a governance crisis. Unlike her predecessors, she did not graduate from Polytechnique or Mines. It did not go through a ministerial cabinet either. She is a scientist who has spent most of her career in the oil services sector.
Catherine MacGregor presented herself thus during her grand virtual oral session in the Senate on March 3: “
I am an engineer by training, I studied at the Ecole Centrale Paris, now Centrale Supélec. Then I devoted 23 years of my career to the world of energy in the private sector, first at Schlumberger, then more recently at TechnipFMC where I notably carried out the foreshadowing of the entity focused on engineering. Technip Energie, which has just recently been floated on the stock market. During this last project, I really placed the energy transition at the heart of this new entity. From these experiences, I keep two things: first a real passion for the world of energy and then a strong conviction that it must actually change.
She explained.
At 48 years old, this mother of two grown daughters, is recognized for her humility, but also her grip.
A former colleague describes her as a "
great boss
" who has no "
blind spot
", that is to say who is competent on many fronts.
Patrick Corbin, president of the French Gas Association, said: “
I met her once on video to present the work of the French Gas Association.
I really appreciated his listening skills and his quick wit.
And also his rather detailed analysis - after only one month at the helm - of the gas situation in France and the challenges for Engie through gas
.
"
Achieving zero carbon by 2045 implies short-term transformations for the leader in wind and solar power in France. Catherine MacGregor must therefore "
simplify
", she says, the sprawling organization chart of the group around four major trades instead of twenty currently. These are the gas and electricity trades, renewable energies and infrastructure. His experience in the industrial sector will help him.
“
It is clear that it was in a world of projects, then in an extremely competitive world, that of oil,
continues Patrick Corbin.
There, it will have to lead renewable development projects. And to do so, Engie has three assets: first of all, to have a substantial portfolio of renewable energies, in particular hydraulics. Then human skills to develop such projects and finally the money. It is important to have the money to develop these projects in a competition that will be strong between all the players, such as Total, EDF, but also Enel and Iberdrola. It's global competition and I think its industrial past is a real asset.
"
The new CEO of Engie must also organize the split of activities deemed non-strategic.
This is the Bright plan, an entity dedicated to Services, newly baptized Equans.
It employs 74,000 people, or just under half of the group's workforce.
Catherine MacGregor's experience in the human resources department of Schlumberger will prove useful in piloting this project.
But, underlines a union official, the boss of Engie could be "
rather quickly grabbed by the subjects which annoy
".
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