Quanta Services, Inc. announced today that its operating subsidiary, Valard Construction (Valard), was selected by Wataynikaneyap Power LP to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) solutions for the Wataynikaneyap Transmission Project (Watay Project) in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Wataynikaneyap Power is a licensed transmission company, regulated by the Ontario Energy Board, and majority-owned by a partnership of 24 First Nation communities in partnership with Fortis, Inc. and other investors.
The contract value for the project makes it one of the largest projects ever awarded to Quanta. Quanta's scope of work on the project consists of EPC services for more than 1,800 kilometers of transmission and distribution infrastructure ranging in voltage from 25 kV to 230 kV and 22 substations. Once completed, the Watay Project would be the largest electric infrastructure project ever implemented to connect remote communities in Ontario, including 17 First Nations communities, with electricity generation and distribution systems that are not currently connected to the provincial transmission grid.
Duke Austin, Quanta's president and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Quanta has successfully and safely engineered and constructed some of the largest electric transmission projects in Canada, and we are pleased to provide our industry-leading electric infrastructure EPC solutions for this project. Quanta has worked collaboratively with Canada's Indigenous communities for many years and Fortis is a long-time, valued customer. We are confident that our collaborative process will provide significant benefits to the communities this project is designed to serve, and we appreciate Wataynikaneyap Power's confidence in our ability to safely execute on such an important project."
"We believe that this project, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, enhances our multi-year visibility and is additive to our revenue growth expectations. Additionally, we believe this project award should result in record backlog again this year and higher levels of utilization, which should positively impact the margins of our Canadian electric power operations beginning next year."
Preconstruction activities are expected to begin immediately, with construction to begin in the first quarter of 2020, and completion of the project is expected by the end of 2023. Full notice to proceed is expected to occur upon the project's financial close in the coming months and Quanta expects to include the project in its remaining performance obligations and backlog at that time.
