Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday its first-half net profit jumped 2.1-fold to 183.03 billion yen, as the sweltering summer pushed up electricity consumption and the resumption of nuclear reactors slashed fuel and generation costs.

The country's largest utility said revenue for the six months ending Sept. 30 rose 5 percent to 2.53 trillion yen.

Tepco said the record-breaking heat wave combined with the economic recovery to boost electricity sales to a record 146 billion kwh as consumers turned on air conditioners and businesses cranked up plant operations.

The surge in electricity use posed a sharp contrast with last summer, when unseasonably cool temperatures slashed consumption.

Tepco's profit was also bolstered by a sharp reduction in fuel costs as more of its 17 idled nuclear reactors came back online in the wake of a reactor-fault coverup scandal involving safety inspections. Older thermal plants were used to make up for the drop in capacity when the reactors were closed last April for inspections and repairs.

During the first-half of the current business year, 15 reactors resumed operations, bringing the company up to 67 percent of its total nuclear power capacity.

For the full year to next March, Tepco expects to expand group net profit to 198 billion yen, up 32.4 percent from the previous year.