KATY, TX (Covering Katy News) — A Katy company is manufacturing a new kind of long-lasting battery designed to keep data centers — and eventually homes and businesses — powered during grid outages for up to 10 hours.
TerraFlow Energy has opened its new headquarters and manufacturing facility at 3127 Greenbusch Road, giving investors, partners and community leaders a first look at the technology during a May 21 open house event.
The batteries work differently than traditional backup power systems. Instead of sitting idle until the grid goes down, they continuously pass power through the system — from the grid into a data center — while also smoothing out the spikes and surges that can damage equipment. If the grid fails, the battery keeps supplying power without any interruption, for up to 10 hours.
That kind of reliability matters increasingly in Texas, where grid outages have disrupted homes, businesses and critical infrastructure in recent years. Data centers in particular require near-perfect uptime — any interruption can mean lost data and significant financial damage.
"The Early Preview was an opportunity to share what the team has accomplished and where we're headed next," said Jon Parrella, TerraFlow CEO. "What started as a vision for a different approach to energy storage is now taking shape in working systems, manufacturing capability, and partnerships that will help define the future of energy infrastructure."
Terra Flow
TerraFlow Energy's Katy facility includes a pilot system testing battery technology designed to keep data centers running during grid outages for up to 10 hours.
The 100,000-square-foot Katy facility is expected to produce enough batteries to generate 25 megawatts of power this year — roughly enough to power about 20,000 homes — with plans to scale to 300 megawatts in 2026. For context, a single large data center can require hundreds of megawatts on its own.
TerraFlow also announced partnerships with Dell Technologies, Nvidia and Houston-based NOV Inc. Round Rock-based Dell supplied a cluster of 1,200 graphics processors that acts as a mini data center to test the battery system. NOV's Fiber Glass Systems unit signed an agreement to help design the storage tanks the batteries require.
According to the Houston Business Journal, the company is also planning two much larger manufacturing facilities — one at the Port of Victoria and another likely in or around Waller County — with a target launch of 2028 and an estimated combined investment of $1.2 billion. Each would be roughly 20 times the size of the Katy plant.
The HBJ also reports TerraFlow originally planned to build its pilot plant in Bellville, where it is deploying a separate 10-megawatt battery system, but needed more space and turned to the Katy location, which was originally designed to house about five different manufacturers.