EDF said in a statement the appointment was effective from 23 November, confirmed by a presidential decree.
Mr Rémont began his career in 1993 as an engineer at the French Defence Procurement Agency. In July 2014, he joined multinational digital automation and energy management company Schneider Electric as president of Schneider Electric France.
He has also served as chairman of Gimélec, a group which brings together 230 French companies providing power and automation solutions for the energy, building, industry and infrastructure markets.
Press reports in France said Mr Rémont’s first trip in the new job will be a visit the same day to the Flamanville-3 EPR nuclear project in northwestern France, which is a decade behind schedule and billions over budget.
Mr Rémont also faces the issue of repairs at nuclear stations which have forced a record number of reactors offline and sent nuclear power production to a 30-year low.
France is buying out the 16% of EDF it does not already own to take the company private and have a free hand in running it as European governments seek to secure energy supplies.
The deal will cost the government, which already has an 84% stake in EDF, around €10bn ($10.4bn).
