Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) has resumed operations at a 600MW unit of the Fashima oil-fired power plant, which was damaged by the earthquake in Japan.

The unit, which operates on fuel oil and crude as feedstock, was shut after the 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami hit north-eastern Japan on 11 March.

Tepco has resumed operations at seven thermal units with a total capacity of 3,275MW, while six thermal units with a combined capacity of 5,200MW are still shut, reports Reuters.

Due to the natural disaster, the utility had to close down 14,903MW capacity of its nuclear and thermal plants equivalent to 23% of its total power sources including hydro plants.