Banks to discuss lending 1 trillion yen more to Tepco: report

Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc's (9501.T) main lenders will begin talks this week to decide conditions to lend Japan's biggest utility, also known as Tepco, an additional 1 trillion yen ($13.01 billion), at the government's request, business daily The Nikkei said.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (8316.T) unit Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and other financial institutions have already infused funds in Tepco, including about 2 trillion yen in emergency financing last spring, the daily said.

The government plans to inject 1 trillion yen in public funds to help Tepco pay for decommissioning reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and have private sector financial institutions provide about 1 trillion yen in working capital financing, Nikkei said.

Tepco and the government-backed Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund have indicated to financial institutions that they plan to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in about two years, the daily said.

If nuclear plants that have been idled since the March earthquake and tsunami cannot be brought back online, Tepco's earnings would take a hit because it would need to rely more on fossil fuel, Nikkei said.