Largest contract, at £40m, for the construction giant is for the development of overhead transmission infrastructure in Queensland, Australia.

Construction giant Balfour Beatty's specialist power engineering arm has won contracts worth £400m in the UK and Australia.

The largest contract, coming in at £40m, is for the development of the overhead transmission infrastructure in Queensland, Australia for Powerlink Queensland in a joint venture with United Group Infrastructure of Australia.

Back in the UK, Balfour Beatty Power Networks has won a four-year extension to its existing contract for Central Networks. Under this deal, worth £40m per year, BBPN will continue to be external service provider to Central Networks, which runs the electricity network in central England.

Meanwhile, the National Grid has also appointed BBPN on three major overhead line refurbishment contracts, worth a total of £50m. Finally, Western Power Distribution has awarded BBPN a three-year contract worth £25m for the repair and maintenance work on the underground distribution voltage network in south Wales.

Balfour Beatty chief executive Ian Tyler said: "These major contract wins demonstrate Balfour Beatty's leading position in the electricity transmission and distribution markets, both in the UK and overseas."