Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, has secured a three-year extension to its Contract Management Organisation (CMO) contract with Cadent for its gas distribution network upgrade programme.

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 part of Cadent’s four gas networks across the UK.

Originally a five-year contract, the CMO relationship will now run to eight years, through to 2029. Costain will continue to be responsible for managing the delivery of the safety-critical mains replacement programme, working in an integrated, collaborative way with Cadent’s network team. The programme will be delivered through a locally engaged supply chain, in line with exacting business plan requirements agreed with regulators.

Costain’s CMO uses highly digitalised systems to ensure best-in-class delivery across health and safety, programme and supply chain management, commercial, customer and operational excellence. The integrated team is supported by digital tools providing real-time insight into the status of the operations, allowing a granular view of both ongoing activities and the long-term plan.

Laura Hughes, energy director at Costain, commented: “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.”