Irby Breaks Ground on 160 MW / 320 MWh Houston Battery Project
- Energy Storage News Voltage & Reactive Power
Marin Holt
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- 5 minutes read
- 160 MW/320 MWh LFP BESS, Houston Zone ERCOT; Irby/Quanta EPC, FlexGen EMS
- CenterPoint Energy interconnecting utility; expected operational 2026
- Powers ~8,800 homes annually; ERCOT ~12.2 GW battery storage mid-2025
- CenterPoint ~90% grid resiliency program complete at groundbreaking
- Groundbreaking May 13, 2025; construction complete early July 2025
On May 13, 2025, SMT Energy, Irby Construction, and CenterPoint Energy broke ground on SMT Houston IV, a 160 MW / 320 MWh battery energy storage system in the Houston Zone of ERCOT. The project Delivers high-speed frequency response and load balancing services to one of the most stressed grid zones in the United States.
What Is Being Built
SMT Houston IV interconnects through CenterPoint Energy’s distribution network in Houston. Irby Construction Company, a Quanta Services subsidiary, serves as the EPC contractor, and FlexGen provides the energy management system. Once operational in 2026, the system will store enough electricity to power approximately 8,800 homes annually.
The system uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery technology in a 2-hour duration configuration: 160 MW output capacity backed by 320 MWh of storage. Irby had built more than 30 BESS sites across the country at the time of groundbreaking, making it one of the most experienced battery storage EPC contractors in the United States.
Critical Perspective
The 160 figure marks measurable progress in this segment, but announced capacity and realized output have diverged 20-35% in comparable projects during the first operating year. Similar deployments have seen procurement and grid interconnection timelines extend 12-18 months beyond initial schedules. What happens to the project economics if interconnection queue delays or rate structure changes arrive before the system reaches full operation?
Why It Matters
ERCOT held approximately 12.2 GW of battery storage capacity as of mid-2025, driven by rapid additions responding to renewable intermittency and record summer peak demand. SMT Houston IV adds 160 MW of fast-response capacity to ERCOT’s ancillary services markets, providing frequency regulation and non-spinning reserve to buffer deviations from wind and Solar variability across the Texas grid.
CenterPoint Energy had completed nearly 90% of its grid resiliency improvement program before groundbreaking, a direct response to the catastrophic 2021 Winter Storm Uri failures. Tony Gardner, CenterPoint’s SVP and Chief Customer Officer, described SMT Houston IV as “one more action we are taking to build a more resilient and reliable grid.”
SMT Energy operates as a merchant-aligned energy storage platform focused on competitive power markets. Its Houston IV project follows earlier BESS installations in the same zone and is part of a broader wave of storage additions that brought over 490 MW of new battery capacity online across Texas in 2025.
