Greece increased electricity generation from renewable energy sources connected to the national grid by 17 percent in the first half, led by solar power.

Power produced by connected power units rose to 2,409 megawatts on June 30 from 2,052 megawatts at the end of 2011, the state-controlled electricity market operator, known as LAGIE, said in a statement on its website.

Solar power generation climbed 65 percent to 724.18 megawatts, while wind power production rose 5 percent to 1,428 megawatts from the end of 2011, according to the statement.

Small hydropower production increased 3 percent to 211.88 megawatts, while biomass generation was little changed at 44.75 megawatts.

Greece is working on a 20-billion-euro solar power project that would help the European Union’s most-indebted country to export clean energy and revive growth.

The average annual solar radiation in Greece is 1,800 kilowatt-hours per square meter, among the highest in Europe, according to European Union data.

The figures exclude power production from renewable sources on Greek islands that are not connected to the national grid and production from combined heat and power units that capture usable heat produced from electricity generation.

[Bloomberg]