* Engie seeks new French clients with green power offer
* Clients with smart meter can get 30 pct weekend discount
* Wants to double wind, quadruple solar capacity in France
* Kocher says Engie well on track for renewables target (Adds comments by CEO, details on capacity growth plans)
By Geert De Clercq
PARIS, Oct 26 (Reuters) - French energy group Engie plans to double its renewable electricity generation capacity in France as it seeks to boost its share of the power market with the offer of renewable power only and weekend discounts.
The gas and power supplier, whose 3 million electricity customers in France represent a market share of just under 10 percent, said on Wednesday it aims to win 1 million new customers in the coming year with an offer to supply electricity from renewable sources only for new customers.
It is also launching a 30 percent power price discount during the weekend for customers who have the new Linky smartmeter installed by grid operator Enedis, and a 50 percent discount on off-peak prices for owners of electric vehicles.
“Renewable energy is the new norm,” Engie’s chief executive, Isabelle Kocher, told reporters.
Herve-Matthieu Ricour, head of Engie’s French retail business, said the firm will produce or buy renewable power in France and guarantee the sourcing with certificates of origin.
He declined to detail how many clients Engie loses per year to churning, as customers move to other vendors, but said the firm aims to have 4 million electricity customers by 2018.
Kocher said the power consumption of Engie’s existing 3 million retail clients roughly corresponds to the amount of renewable power Engie produces in France.
Engie has a generation capacity of about 10,000 megawatts (MW) in France, of which 3,800 MW is hydropower, 1,550 MW wind and 600 MW solar, and the rest in gas-fired plants and in drawing rights on market leader EDF’s nuclear output.
“Today our French production portfolio consists of 50 percent renewables, but the share of renewables will grow strongly,” Kocher said.
Kocher wants to double Engie’s installed generation capacity from windpower to 3,000 MW and nearly quadruple its solarpower capacity to 2,200 MW for a total renewables capacity of 5,200 MW in the coming five years.
“We are well on track to install this capacity,” she said.
Kocher did not give an estimate for growth in hydro, which will depend on the degree to which France opens up its hydro market, dominated by market leader EDF.
She said that if the number of Engie power customers grows more quickly than the share of renewable energy in its portfolio, it would buy renewable power abroad. (Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Greg Mahlich)