ATHENS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Greece's renewable energy sources sector is steadily growing, with power production from the industry totaling 878 MW at the end of 2006, an average annual growth rate of 23 percent in the period 1990-2006, a survey by Hellastat SA revealed on Tuesday.

    In the survey, Hellastat said by the end of 2007 total electricity energy power production totaled 1,039 MW (up 18 percent from 2006), while total power production including large hydroelectric projects totaled 4,060 MW.

    Hellastat said a total of 297 enterprises were included in the survey, of which only 124 reported commercial activities in 2007. Turnover of the sample grew by 36.5 percent to 216.3 million euros (about 281.82 million U.S. dollars) in 2007, from 158.5 million euros in 2006, reflecting a significant increase in turnover by companies with an annual turnover of more than 10 million euros.

    The survey showed that time-consuming bureaucracy and weaknesses in the regulatory framework, high initial investment cost, inability of energy storage, natural gas competition and delays in implementing investment projects were creating hurdles in the further development of the industry. (1 U.S. dollar = 0.7675 euros)