Stockholm, Jan 28 (IANS): A damaged nuclear reactor in Sweden that was due to be restarted in February has been hit by yet more delays, it was reported on Friday.

Ringhals 4 was originally due to be relaunched in November, following repairs of a pressure vessel that was damaged in August. Subsequently, the restart date was pushed back to January, then February 24, but the reactor will now not be operational until March 19, Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper reported.

A spokesperson for the Ringhals plant told DN that acquiring the tools necessary for the repairs had taken longer than expected, but that further delays were unlikely, Xinhua news agency reported.

The delay may mean that the price of electricity, which has reached record levels in the past year, remains volatile.

"In practice, this means that the lower electricity price which would have come if the reactor was restarted will only come later," Erik Ek, strategic operations manager at Svenska Kraftnat, told DN.

Nuclear power accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the electricity produced in Sweden, according to the Swedish Radiation Safety Agency.

Following the decommissioning of four reactors between 2017 and 2020, six reactors currently remain at three sites.