Osaka Gas had planned to build a 1.2-gigawatt (GW) coal-fired power station in the city of Ube in Yamaguchi prefecture aiming to start operations around 2026, with partners Electric Power Development (J-Power) and Ube Industries Ltd.

The move by Osaka Gas comes after other Japanese companies have withdrawn from new coal-fired power projects amid growing global pressure for companies to divest coal assets due to environmental concerns.

(This story corrects plant location to Ube, not Hiroshima, in second paragraph.)

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; editing by Richard Pullin)