Carillion, a subsidiary of Wolverhampton-based support and construction services group, has been chosen as the preferred bidder for a power transmission contract worth £120 million.

Manitoba Hydro has chosen Rokstad, a division of Carillion Canada, as the preferred provider for the next phase of its Bipole III high voltage transmission line scheme.

The project will involve clearing rights of way, installing access roads, anchors and foundations, the assembly of towers and the stringing of cables for three packages of the Bipole III project, which will include 1,384 km of transmission lines and two converter stations, beginning at Keewatinohk in Northern Manitoba and will end at Sandy Bay Ojiway First Nation in Southern Manitoba.

When the Bipole lll project is fully completed, it will deliver renewable energy to the United States and Southern Manitoba.

Carillion said it expected to agree final terms and achieve contract signature shortly to enable work to begin before the end of the year, with completion scheduled for 2018.

Carillion chief executive, Richard Howson, said: “We are delighted to have been selected for this important project, which further demonstrates the quality and strength of Rokstad’s offering and the success of our strategy of expanding our infrastructure services activities in Canada into the power transmission and distribution market, with the acquisition of Rokstad in 2014.”

The announcement was made at the same time as a full year training update was published by the parent group, in which it said performance was meeting expectations with strong growth expected to be reflected in increased operating profit and total revenue.

It showed that revenue growth continued to lead the performance, along with a strong margin in support services.

The group has also forecast that net borrowing is expected to reduce from the half-year level.

New orders plus probable orders in 2016 are expected to reach £4.5bn, with total orders plus probable orders of approximately £16 billion (December 2015: £17.4 billion) by the end of the year.