WHILE summer may be on the way, Cadent in the East of England is planning for colder conditions to ensure that residents have access to heat and hot water no matter what the weather.
Cadent has confirmed investment of more than £91million to modernise over 300km of its East of England pipeline over the next 12 months (April 2025 to March 2026).
This is around the same straight-line distance as Newmarket to Amsterdam, or the length of 1,200 Britannia Piers, or the height of more than 3,333 Norwich Cathedrals.
The work will be delivered by skilled engineers as they replace ageing metallic pipes – many over 100 years old – with new plastic ones which will futureproof the network and allow gas to keep flowing.
Upgrading the East of England network means 1.6million properties will receive a safe and reliable gas supply for many years to come.
Homes, schools, hospitals and other buildings use gas for heat and hot water, some of the region’s biggest industries need it to power production processes, and it is the fuel of choice for a rising number of HGV fleets.
“We are very aware that the majority of homes across the East of England rely on gas for central heating and it’s our job to make sure they get it, safely and reliably, throughout the year,” said Head of Investment Delivery Kerry Stimson, who leads the team delivering Cadent’s gas mains upgrade work in the region.
“Metallic gas pipes have a safe working life and as they reach the end of that, it is our responsibility to replace them.
“There are also big environmental gains for the region as part of these upgrades as it reduces methane emissions and enables a move to more renewable gases like biomethane. This is essential for a cleaner future – the UK will need energy to come from a range of sources to meet demand and be sustainable.”
The work is part of a 30-year programme, which started in 2002, to upgrade the entire UK gas network.
Every year, Cadent is responsible for the upkeep and safe working of around 23,000km of pipes in the East of England, which are mostly underneath the region’s roads. When needed, this includes replacing ageing or severely damaged pipes.
Kerry added: “In most cases we can insert the new plastic pipe into the old metallic one. This technique reduces the time of each project, and we don’t have to dig as much, which means less disruption for local communities.
“The upgrades also mean an end to what can often become return visits – with associated disruption – to repair faults on the older metallic mains, as they start to show signs of age.
“We know roadworks aren’t 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.”
By distance, the ‘top five’ workload areas for 2025-26 are: Broadland (37,827 metres), Waveney (25472 metres), Breckland (22,831 metres), North Hertfordshire (21,778 metres), and Three Rivers (18252 metres).
You will find the figures for each of the East of England’s local authority areas in the table below.
