Transpower project

Balfour Beatty has signed an agreement with Transpower, the owner and operator of New Zealand’s high-voltage electricity transmission grid, for the construction of the proposed transmission line from Whakamaru to Auckland.

The contract, valued at £82m, will be carried out as a joint venture by Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions and United Group, the Australasian engineering and property services company.

The award is conditional on the final decision of the Board of Inquiry process, which is in progress.

The Transpower project involves the design, supply and construction of a 400kV-capable overhead line approximately 186km long and forms part of the proposed North Island Grid Upgrade Project.

Construction activities are scheduled to begin in 2009 and the line is expected to be commissioned in November 2011.

The Transpower contract follows the recent announcement that Balfour Beatty has signed an alliance agreement, in joint venture with United Group, with

to help ATCO Electric complete its capital programme and meet electrical transmission needs in Alberta, Canada.