Cadent secures work for 600 people with £70m upgrade investment

Cadent, the largest of the four gas distribution network companies, is investing £70m upgrading gas mains across the North West, securing work for 600 people.

Each year, Cadent replaces around 1.5 per cent its 34,000km North West underground pipe distribution system – some of which were installed over 100 years ago.

These are mostly ageing metallic mains, which are nearing the end of their safe operating lives.

The investment is part of a bigger programme taking place over 30 years, and which is due to finish in 2032.

Upgrading to plastic ensures a long-term safe network and also means keeping everything on track to replace fossil gas with hydrogen.

This switch is essential to local plans for meeting energy demands in ways that protect the planet more.

“More than 80 per cent of homes in the North West rely on gas for central heating and it’s our job to make sure they get it, safely and reliably, every minute of every day of the year,” said Craig Horrocks, who heads Cadent’s gas mains upgrade work in the region.

“As our older stock reaches the end of its safe working life, we must replace it.

“We’re also excited by the arrival soon of hydrogen to our networks, which is going to be essential to the North West achieving its targets to reduce carbon emissions.

“In most cases we’re able to insert the new pipe into the old one, a technique that reduces the time of each project and means we don’t have to dig as much.

“It also means an end to what often becomes increasingly-frequent visits – with associated disruption – to repair faults on the older metallic mains, as they start to show signs of age.

“We know it’s not ideal, but my team is determined to move as quickly as they safely can and get the work done with as little disruption as possible.”

The mains replacement programme starts this month (April 2022) to March 2023 includes more than 450,000 metres of gas mains across the North West region.

For this year alone, that is £70m investment in the North West gas mains network, with more than 600 engineers employed to deliver the work.