Japan's Kansai delays gas-fired plant launch by a year

TOKYO, March 26 (Reuters) - Kansai Electric Power Co

will delay the launch of its new, gas-fired 3,700-megawatt Wakayama power plant by a year to the year to March 2024 or later as it has a long-term plan to supplement its requirements with nuclear power, the company said on Tuesday.

Kansai, Japan's most nuclear reliant power utility, intends to make the best use of nuclear reactors once they clear new safety regulations for restart, Hiroshi Okamoto, a manager in charge of facility planning said at a news conference.

The country's nuclear watchdog is set to start checking the safety of each reactor for restarting after it compiles upgraded regulations including what is learned from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.

Separately, Kansai, Japan's second-biggest power utility, said it has advanced the timing to complete the launch of six remodelled gas-fired units at the 2,919-MW Himeji-Daini power plant to June 2015 from October 2015.

(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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Keywords: JAPAN POWER/KANSAI