Irby Construction and Partners Break Ground on 160 MW Battery Storage Project

HOUSTON, Texas — Irby Construction Company, along with SMT Energy and CenterPoint Energy, officially broke ground on the SMT Houston IV project on May 13, 2025. This $160 million Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) will have a capacity of 160 megawatts and 320 megawatt-hours, located in the Houston Zone of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market.

The project aims to enhance grid reliability and resilience across Texas by providing fast-response power during peak demand periods. Once operational, SMT Houston IV will facilitate greater integration of renewable energy into the electrical grid.

Irby Construction is serving as the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor, utilizing its extensive expertise in electrical infrastructure. Amanda Cobb Davis, Irby’s Director of Operations for Battery Energy Storage Systems, expressed enthusiasm for the project, stating, “We’re excited to work with SMT on this project. 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.”

The groundbreaking ceremony included a symbolic cord-cutting and was attended by representatives from all three organizations and key project stakeholders. Kevin Midei, Senior Vice President of EPC at SMT, emphasized the importance of collaboration, saying, “This groundbreaking reflects years of detailed planning and collaboration with CenterPoint Energy, and Irby Construction Company. Our focus now shifts to executing a tightly managed construction phase, prioritizing safety, quality, and schedule from the first day on site to commissioning.”

CenterPoint Energy, responsible for integrating the system into the existing grid, also highlighted their recent achievements in grid resiliency improvements. Tony Gardner, SVP & Chief Customer Officer, stated, “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 percent of our overall grid resiliency improvements.”

SMT Houston IV is expected to make a substantial contribution to ERCOT’s ancillary services markets, providing high-speed grid balancing and helping to mitigate the challenges associated with load volatility and renewable intermittency. Irby has a history of successful BESS projects, including the Manatee BESS site, which was the largest in the world at its inception in 2019. They have since completed over 30 BESS sites, with more than 20 currently in progress or contracted.