Sempra Infrastructure is extending the commissioning process of the Energía Costa Azul (ECA) LNG Phase 1 project—a one-train natural gas liquefaction plant in Ensenada, Mexico—after finding damage in the project’s refrigerant compressors.

The damage was found when the plant was shut down for planned inspections after Sempra shipped its first cargo earlier this month. 

Prior to the inspection, Sempra had expected substantial completion of ECA LNG Phase 1 commissioning this summer. Now, in addressing the damage found, Sempra said “subject to completion of a root cause investigation and the execution of the remediation workstreams being consistent with management expectations,” substantial completion is expected in this year’s fourth quarter.

ECA LNG Phase 1

The ECA LNG Phase 1 project consists of a 3.25-million tonne/year liquefaction train supplied with US natural gas sourced from the Permian basin in Texas and New Mexico.

The project achieved mechanical completion in December 2025 and introduced feed gas in April 2026. First LNG production was reached as part of the commissioning process in June 2026, while the first cargo was exported in early July.