Centauro del Norte Gas Pipeline

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Centauro del Norte Gas Pipeline, also known as the Sonora-Baja California Gas Pipeline or by its Spanish name Gasoducto Centauro del Norte (GCN), is a gas pipeline under construction in the states of Baja California and Sonora, Mexico.

Location

The Centauro del Norte pipeline is designed to run from a junction with the Rosarito gas pipeline near Mexicali (Baja California state) to the Pitiquito compressor station in Caborca (Sonora state), supplying fossil gas to a key industrial corridor in northwestern Mexico not served by the existing Rosarito, Samalayuca-Sásabe and Sásabe-Guaymas pipelines. Developers have described the project as a continuation of the Samalayuca-Sásabe gas pipeline.

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Project details

Phase 1

• Operator: Gasoducto Centauro del Norte, S.A. de C.V.
• Owner: Carso Energy, S.A. de C.V.
• Parent company: Grupo Carso, S.A.B. de C.V.
• Capacity: 400 MMcf/d
• Length: 76.8 km
• Diameter: 36 inches
• Status: Construction
• Start year: 2025
• Cost:
• Financing:
• Associated infrastructure:
  • Rosarito Gas Pipeline
  • CCC González Ortega power station
  • CCC San Luis Río Colorado power station

Phase 2

• Operator: Gasoducto Centauro del Norte, S.A. de C.V.
• Owner: Carso Energy, S.A. de C.V.
• Parent company: Grupo Carso, S.A.B. de C.V.
• Capacity: 400 MMcf/d to 600 MMcf/d
• Length: 365 km
• Diameter: 36 inches
• Status: Proposed
• Start year: 2027
• Cost:
• Financing:
• Associated infrastructure:
  • Samalayuca-Sásabe Gas Pipeline
  • Sásabe-Guaymas Gas Pipeline

Background

In February 2023, Sempra and Carso Energy announced that they had reached a preliminary, non-binding agreement with Mexico's federal electricity commission CFE to build a new pipeline serving the states of Sonora and Baja California. Multiple sources reported that the pipeline's length would be approximately 281 miles (450 kilometers), but few other details were available as of August 2023. According to the developers, the new pipeline would connect to Carso Energy's Samalayuca-Sásabe Gas Pipeline and Sempra Energy's Sásabe-Guaymas Gas Pipeline, providing a more secure, efficient, competitive, and reliable natural gas supply to CFE power plants and other industries between Sásabe (Sonora) and Algodones (Baja California) in northwestern Mexico.

In December 2023, Carso Energy and CFE (Mexico's federal electricity commission) confirmed that they had signed an investment and development agreement and a gas transport contract for the new pipeline, which was to extend approximately 416 km from Sásabe to Mexicali.

Phase 1

Phase 1 of the Centauro del Norte project is designed to run from an interconnection with Sempra's Rosarito pipeline near Mexicali (Baja California) to San Luis Río Colorado in Sonora state. This phase will provide gas to new CFE power stations under development in northwestern Mexico, including the CCC González Ortega power station and the CCC San Luis Río Colorado power station. As of December 2024, construction had begun on the 77 km Phase 1. Early announcements anticipated that Phase 1 would start transporting gas as early as May 2025; however, as of August 2025 there was no indication that the pipeline had begun operating.

Phase 2

Phase 2 of the pipeline would continue east from San Luis Río Colorado to connect with the Samalayuca-Sásabe and Sásabe-Guaymas pipelines at the Pitiquito compressor station near Caborca (Sonora state). As of December 2024, construction of the 365 km Phase 2 was expected to begin in 2027.