Sinohydro Group Ltd., a Chinese hydropower station builder, has received final approval from the country's securities regulator to launch an A-share initial public offering, in a deal widely expected to be China's largest this year, a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires on Friday.

Sinohydro, which has built more than 65% of China 's hydroelectric power stations, will start a roadshow for its planned sale of up to 3.5 billion A-shares Monday, the person said, adding that subscriptions will open in the week after next.

Sinohydro received preliminary approval for the IPO in early August. It has said it will use CNY17.3 billion ($2.7 billion) of the IPO proceeds to upgrade construction machinery, invest in three clean energy projects and supplement its working capital.

The offering, which will form as much as 34.65% of its enlarged capital, is expected to surpass Sinovel Wind Group Co.'s CNY9.46 billion IPO in January, analysts say.

China generates more hydroelectric power than any other country, with capacity in excess of 200 GW, the National Energy Administration said in August last year. The government aims to increase that to 350 GW by 2020 in a bid to realize its goal of having non-fossil fuels account for 15% of its energy mix.

Sinohydro said earlier it made a net profit of CNY2.9 billion in 2010.

Διαβάστε ακόμα