She knows how to manage crises. She would rather say that it can be learned. At 49, Karine Revcolevschi heads the upstream-downstream optimization and trading activity (Doaat) of EDF, an entity of 420 engineers and computer scientists that has the difficult task of switching on or off nuclear, hydraulic and thermal power plants to optimize the supply of electricity to the French.
It must also be sold on the market in the event of a surplus and purchased when there is a shortage. An activity that generated a gross margin of around 35 billion euros in 2023. Karine Revcolevschi joined Doaat in mid-2021, at the start of the energy crisis. “I thought I would be accused of raising prices,” she jokes.
His career in three dates
- 2000 Graduated from Télécom Paris
- 2009 Arrives in the EDF group
- 2021 Becomes director of Doaat
Today, everyone could rather congratulate her for having helped avoid a candlelit winter of 2022. “We have sounded the alarm because it is Doaat that is checking whether we have enough electricity for the cold period, traces the engineer. Then it was necessary to comb through the production teams’ schedules to guarantee supplies and calculate the valuation of more flexible offers, such as load shedding.” Enough to shake up the daily life of this engineer trained at Télécom Paris, which generally consists of making major commercial decisions, on the timing of electricity purchases, for example, recruiting staff and ensuring the resilience of information systems.
Her career, she says, can be summed up as a “series of opportunities”. Having worked for the Treasury and the Court of Auditors, she moved into the world of energy by joining the EDF group fifteen years ago. She would experience several crises there. In these difficult situations, she thinks she knows “keep a cool head, call the right people at the right time and coordinate action,” notably thanks to his past experiences, which allow him to speak several languages of the energy professions.
Emergency planning expert
Her first stint at EDF ended in 2017, at the head of island energy systems, which had to manage the consequences of Hurricane Irma in Saint-Martin, in the Antilles. Having become regional director of Enedis in western Paris, she was on deck in 2018 when a fire interrupted traffic at Montparnasse station and deprived 16,000 homes of electricity. “We installed generators without having all the connectors to connect them to the network, but fortunately an expert found a solution, she remembers. It was then necessary to ensure a supply of fuel oil, while Paris was cut in two because of the Tour de France.” To get out of complicated situations, she advises surrounding yourself with the right specialists, preparing numerous emergency plans and communicating a lot.
Mother of four now grown children, Karine Revcolevschi also knows that it can be difficult for some women to maintain their professional network after their working day. At Enedis and at Doaat, she has therefore launched two women’s networks to work towards diversity. “For a long time, I saw it as inevitable that there were fewer women than men in scientific training, she says. Now I find it crazy!”
A work that characterizes you
The song “He was life changing,” by Jean-Jacques Goldman.
“It’s a song that celebrates everyday heroes, the commitment of all and the value of work.”
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
