Irby Construction Company has partnered with SMT Energy and CenterPoint Energy to initiate the SMT Houston IV project, a 320MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas market of the US.
Once operational, SMT Houston IV will provide fast-response power during peak demand, supporting grid stability and renewable integration.
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Irby Construction is serving as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor, bringing its expertise in electrical infrastructure to the project.
SMT Energy, through its affiliate SMT Houston IV LLC, is the project owner and developer, while CenterPoint Energy is acting as the interconnecting utility, integrating the system into Houston’s electrical network.
Construction is set to begin this month, with completion expected by early July.
Irby director of operations for BESS Amanda Cobb Davis said: “We’re excited to work with SMT on this project.
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By GlobalData“We have invested a year of hard work to ensure that the project is engineered efficiently, and we are ready to get our boots on the ground and start construction.”
A ground-breaking ceremony in Houston featured a symbolic cord-cutting.
Representatives from all three organisations and other key project stakeholders attended the event.
SMT EPC senior vice-president Kevin Midei said: “This ground-breaking reflects years of detailed planning and collaboration with CenterPoint Energy, Harris County, FlexGen, and Irby Construction Company.
“Our focus now shifts to executing a tightly managed construction phase, prioritising safety, quality, and schedule from the first day on-site through commissioning.”
CenterPoint Energy SVP and chief customer officer Tony Gardner said: “Projects like this demonstrate how collaboration and forward-thinking infrastructure come together to power a more resilient energy future. At CenterPoint, we recently completed nearly 90% of our overall grid resiliency improvements.”
In 2019, Irby began construction on the Manatee BESS site with Florida Power and Light, which was reportedly the world’s largest BESS project at the time. Irby has since built over 30 BESS sites, with more than 20 currently under construction or under contract.
Irby Construction, a Quanta Services company, is a provider of electric infrastructure solutions based in Richland, Mississippi, with over 75 years of experience. SMT Energy, meanwhile, is a domestic energy storage platform focused on BESS.
CenterPoint Energy serves approximately seven million metered customers across several US states and is headquartered in Houston.
