The company, which also operates hydropower and coal-fired plants, started taking orders from institutional investors today.

It plans to sell 1.5bn shares at an indicative price range of HK$1.60 ($0.21) to HK$1.76 each, according to a term sheet seen by news agencies.

Huadian Fuxin was previously aiming to raise about $950m but the euro zone debt crisis and the poor performance of other Hong Kong-listed firms appears to have dampened investor appetite, with three other firms scrapping plans for Hong Kong IPOs in the past week alone.

Huadian