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Béatrice Prud'homme appointed chair of Dunkerque LNG

07/07/17

After four years at the terminal as executive director of operations, Béatrice Prud'homme was appointed chair of Dunkerque LNG on June 30th. She takes over from Marc Girard, who is now off to Chile, where he will manage a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project for the EDF Group.

"The eight years I spent leading this project and as chairman of Dunkerque LNG were a unique and unforgettable experience. Unique, since for the engineer I am, it was an exceptional industrial development project. Unforgettable, since the countless amazing people I was lucky enough to meet are dear to my heart. I had the privilege of supervising the major stages of this extraordinary project: public enquiries, consultations with the CRE (energy regulator commission), untiring negotiations of all project contracts, construction and all types of associated hazards, industrial tests that put us under significant stress with our colleagues from COFIVA (EDF-CIT and allies) and finally a fantastic commercial start-up by all the teams at Dunkerque LNG and Gaz-Opale. For the past eight years, I have shared the daily life of passionate people, who are fully committed to giving life to the 2nd LNG terminal in mainland Europe. Thanks to them, the terminal was commissioned on 1 January and nine LNG tankers have already been welcomed by our teams! It has been a great honour for me to support this project since its inception, manage its construction and lead the relationship with our partners: our shareholders, our customers, the Port of Dunkirk, construction companies and of course all our friends and supporters in the Dunkirk area. I am now off to far distant tropics, but still within the EDF Group, and I am pleased today to pass on the presidency of Dunkerque LNG to Béatrice Prud'homme, with whom I have been lucky enough to interact on the project over recent years. She will do her utmost to make this terminal a recognised and innovative industrial asset. I wish her all the very best for this new assignment and convey my best wishes for success to the teams who will support her," says Marc Girard.

Alongside this new position as chair of Dunkerque LNG, Béatrice Prud'homme retains her position as chair of Gaz-Opale, the operator of the LNG terminal.

Béatrice Prud'homme is an engineering graduate of the Arts et Métiers engineering school. She also holds an HEC Executive Masters degree in Business Administration. Since her arrival at EDF in 1993, she has held positions in the fields of safety, maintenance and operations on the Cattenom and Gravelines nuclear sites. After joining the Group Audit division in Paris, she managed a thermal maintenance agency, an in-house service provider for EDF's nuclear and fossil-fuel power plants. Her career path then led her to become deputy director of the Gravelines nuclear power plant. She joined Dunkerque LNG as executive director of operations in October 2013, and was appointed chair of Gaz-Opale immediately afterwards.

"Since my arrival at Dunkerque LNG, I have been Marc Girard’s "right-hand woman". I have enjoyed working with him and I thank him once again for this fantastic project and for everything he has taught me. We were a two-person team... I was his representative on site, which was extremely useful. Given the fact that since January of this year we have entered the terminal’s operational phase, the position is now evolving. Exciting work awaits me, amidst inspiring, passionate and engaging teams, since the life of an LNG terminal is not set in stone. On the contrary, we must anticipate the demands of our customers and the needs of the market over the long term. And we must also work with the teams to ensure innovation, improvement, and so on," explains Béatrice Prud'homme. "I believe that my professional experience in the field will be an asset for this new mission that has been assigned to me within the teams of Gaz-Opale and Dunkerque LNG."
Passionate about the industrial world, where she always wanted to work, Béatrice Prud'homme was also elected consular in December 2016. This is a commitment that further anchors this activist for greater recognition of industry in our local area. "In my eyes, it is essential to be able to get practically involved in local economic life, especially when you yourself come from a company that is developing fast in the local area," comments Béatrice Prud'homme.
We wish her every success in this new position! 

Article présenté sur la lettre d'information : Juillet 2017