Cathodic protection of an existing concrete structure, including a steel member at least partly buried, such as steel rebar, in the concrete structure, is provided by embedding anodes into a fresh concrete layer applied over an excavated patch and/or as a covering overlay. The anodes are embedded at spaced positions or as an array in the layer and connected to the rebar. A corrosion inhibitor is added into the fresh concrete at least at the interface and more preferably in admixture with the fresh concrete which acts to reduce the flow of ionic current to the steel or between the anode member and the steel in the fresh covering material without significantly increasing the resistivity of the fresh covering material and without inhibiting the ionic current between the anode member and the fresh covering material. In this way the current to the steel in the existing concrete is maximized to maximize the cathodic protection to the existing steel which is the primary target.