The Swedish giant was one of the largest contractors that had yet to sign up with a team to bid for the huge deals on offer.

Now the firm’s UK arm has joined the Kier/Bam Nuttall joint venture, which is already on the shortlist bidding the £1.2bn main civils package for a planned new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

This will be operated by French utility EDF Energy, which hopes to get Hinkley Point C up and running by 2017.

It is understood Skanska approached the existing JV to bid for the main civils work only. This will include building the main concrete base for the nuclear power station site as well as the design of the turbine halls.

The team is one of five in the chase for the job. The others are: Laing O’Rourke/Bouygues; Balfour Beatty/Vinci; Costain/Sir Robert McAlpine and Carillion/Eiffage.

One source told the Enquirer: “Skanska has a lot of resource. This job is going to have 1,500-plus people on it by the time it gets going which will stretch firms. That’s why so many have teamed up.”

And the Enquirer can reveal that URS has also joined the Kier/Bam Nuttall team.

The US firm’s Washington division has worked on nuclear power stations around the world since the 1960s and a URS-led consortium is currently managing and operating the reprocessing and waste storage facilities at Sellafield.

First stage tenders, which are being assessed on programme management works rather than price, go in at the beginning of September with EDF then picking three to work up final bids in the new year.

EDF will choose a preferred contractor next summer before signing the target cost deal next autumn. Work is expected to start the following year for a finish in late 2016.

The same five teams are also chasing one of the largest earthworks contracts to be let in years – although Skanska and URS are not with Kier/Bam Nuttall for this deal.

The £100m contract will see 4.5 million cu m of rock and earth moved to make way for the new station at Hinkley.

Bidders expect to hear who has won the job later this summer with work on the two year deal starting in October.