Costain has been supervising gas mains replacements for Cadent in the east of England since 2021; it will now continue to do so until 2029.
Cadent is the UK’s largest gas distribution network, managing more than 80,000 miles of pipes and transporting gas to 11 million customers. Since 2021 Costain has been tasked with replacing approximately 330km of gas mains each year in the east of England.
Costain was one of four contract management organisations (CMOs) signed by Cadent in July 2020, to start in April 2021, to manage the planning and delivery of it four network’s mains replacement programmes and related projects. Costain was handed the east of England network; Morrison Utility Services has the north London network; Network Plus has the northwest network; and Sapphire Utility Solutions and Enzen Global Solutions joint venture has the West Midlands network.
The four performance-related contracts were collectively valued at around £300m for the initial five years, with a second five-year term potentially taking the overall value to £600m.
Having completed its five-year review discussions with Costain, Cadent has given it a three-year extension rather than five.
“We are having similar conversations with our other CMOs,” a Cadent spokesperson said.
Costain energy director Laura Hughes said: “We have an excellent relationship with Cadent and our supply chain partners and we’re working to the same goal. We’re improving the lives of thousands of people in the east of England by upgrading pipelines to ensure homes remain heated, while making necessary improvements to help the UK decarbonise its energy system and comply with important environmental legislation.
“I’m very proud of our strong performance, particularly around safety and customer service. We’re operating in an environment where we’re able to bring different skills and capabilities to the table and apply agile operational processes around planning, programme management, reporting and control that have delivered to targets and led to efficiency gains. The digital tools that we’ve developed with Cadent are continually upgrading our insights and predictability.”
Victoria Grieve, east of England network director at Cadent, added: “We’ve been working alongside Costain for a number of years now and we are very pleased to be able to continue our collaboration, drive further efficiencies and ensure a safe and successful gas upgrade project in line with our business plans.
“The work carried out by Costain is part of a big investment programme across the east of England to modernise the gas network – keeping people warm in their homes now and getting the network ready for lower-carbon gases in the future.”
