Houston battery energy storage project begins construction

Irby Construction Company has partnered with SMT Energy and CenterPoint Energy to initiate the SMT Houston IV project, a 320MWh artillery vigor retention strategy (BESS) wrong the Electric Reliability Council of Texas marketplace of the US.

Once operational, SMT Houston IV volition supply fast-response powerfulness during highest demand, supporting grid stableness and renewable integration.

Irby Construction is serving arsenic the engineering, procurement, and operation (EPC) contractor, bringing its expertise successful electrical infrastructure to the project.

SMT Energy, done its affiliate SMT Houston IV LLC, is the task proprietor and developer, portion CenterPoint Energy is acting arsenic the interconnecting utility, integrating the strategy into Houston’s electrical network.

Construction is acceptable to statesman this month, with completion expected by aboriginal July.

Irby manager of operations for BESS Amanda Cobb Davis said: “We’re excited to enactment with SMT connected this project.

“We person invested a twelvemonth of hard enactment to guarantee that the task is engineered efficiently, and we are acceptable to get our boots connected the crushed and commencement construction.”

A ground-breaking ceremonial successful Houston featured a symbolic cord-cutting.

Representatives from each 3 organisations and different cardinal task stakeholders attended the event.

SMT EPC elder vice-president Kevin Midei said: "This ground-breaking reflects years of elaborate readying and collaboration with CenterPoint Energy, Harris County, FlexGen, and Irby Construction Company.

“Our absorption present shifts to executing a tightly managed operation phase, prioritising safety, quality, and docket from the archetypal time on-site done commissioning.”

CenterPoint Energy SVP and main lawsuit serviceman Tony Gardner said: "Projects similar this show however collaboration and forward-thinking infrastructure travel unneurotic to powerfulness a much resilient vigor future. At CenterPoint, we precocious completed astir 90% of our wide grid resiliency improvements."

In 2019, Irby began operation connected the Manatee BESS tract with Florida Power and Light, which was reportedly the world’s largest BESS task astatine the time. Irby has since built implicit 30 BESS sites, with much than 20 presently nether operation oregon nether contract.

Irby Construction, a Quanta Services company, is simply a supplier of electrical infrastructure solutions based successful Richland, Mississippi, with implicit 75 years of experience. SMT Energy, meanwhile, is simply a home vigor retention level focused connected BESS.

CenterPoint Energy serves astir 7 cardinal metered customers crossed respective US states and is headquartered successful Houston.