TOKYO, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is joining hands with four utilities, including Kansai Electric Power Co, to develop a next-generation nuclear power reactor, the company said on Thursday.

Hokkaido Electric Power Co, Shikoku Electric Power Co and Kyushu Electric Power Co are also in the consortium behind the concept and design of "SRZ-1200", a 1.2-million-kilowatt advanced light water reactor, it added.

In August, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged the restart of more idled nuclear plants and a fresh look at developing next-generation reactors, in a major shift of nuclear energy policy a decade after the Fukushima disaster.

The consortium aims for mid-2030 completion of the project for reactors that are safer than the current pressurised water type, the Nikkei Business magazine said earlier on Thursday. (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim and Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Clarence Fernandez)