Quanta Services, Inc. announced that it was selected by American Electric Power (AEP) to provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) solutions for the Wind Catcher Generation Tie Line. The anticipated contract value for this project makes it the largest project award in Quanta’s history.

The Wind Catcher Tie Line consists of approximately 350 miles of a single circuit 765-kV power line located between Guymon and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and two new substations. Quanta will provide turnkey EPC services for the entire project and estimates that up to 1,000 people could be working on the project in Oklahoma, supported by technical and engineering operations in Texas.

Once completed, the Wind Catcher Tie Line would deliver energy from the Wind Catcher wind farm in western Oklahoma to customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

“Quanta has built more high-voltage electric transmission infrastructure in North America than any other specialty contractor, with industry-leading experience constructing 765-kV power lines,” said Duke Austin, Quanta’s President and CEO. “Quanta brings significant scope, scale and financial resources, as well as a track record of safely executing large, complex projects.

Quanta is providing early-phase project support services to AEP. Subject to AEP obtaining state and federal regulatory approvals, which are required for the Wind Catcher Tie Line project, Quanta expects construction to begin in the later part of 2018, with completion expected in late 2020. Quanta has yet to determine whether the project will be included in third quarter 2017 backlog.

“We are confident that our collaborative process will provide benefits to the communities this project is designed to serve and appreciate AEP’s confidence in our ability to safely execute on the Wind Catcher Tie Line project,” added Austin.