EnSync Energy Systems of Menomonee Falls, Wis., has set up a Hawaii hydroponic and aquaponics company to detach from the grid entirely. Using an energy management system composed of solar generation and batteries, Mari’s Garden in Mililani, on Oahu, is operating the water pumps for its hydroponic and fish farming operation off the grid.

The system uses a 25-kW photovoltaic unit and 40 Aquion battery stacks to store 92 kWh of energy. Mari’s Garden said it plans to expand the PV system to 75 kW later this year.

More: Pacific Business News; EnSync Energy Systems

Richey Named Site Vice President at FE’s Beaver Valley Nuclear Station

FirstEnergy has named Marty Richey the site vice president at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport, Pa. He takes the place of Eric Larson, who will represent FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. as a loaned executive to the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations in Atlanta.

Richey, a 27-year industry veteran, most recently was plant manager at Entergy’s Waterford Nuclear Generating Station in Killona, La.

He also is a veteran of the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power Program, where he was a mechanical operator and engineering lab technician.

More: FirstEnergy

Japanese Company’s New Power Storage System Goes Online

Sumitomo Corp. is starting up its new power storage system, Willey Battery Utility, in Hamilton, Ohio, which will participate in PJM’s frequency regulation market.

“As a developer of wind and solar power plants which are unavoidably intermittent generation sources, we think it is quite important that we also contribute to the stabilization of power grids through balancing services,” said Nick Hagiwara of the Sumitomo Corporation of Americas.

The 6-MW, 2-MWh system was developed by RES Americas. It is the Japanese conglomerate’s first investment in a large-scale, stand-alone battery project in the United States.

More: Sumitomo Corp.

Plastic Sheet Could Provide Solution to Battery Overheating

A Stanford University chemical engineer has invented a plastic sheet that can be inserted into lithium ion batteries to prevent overheating.

The sheet is embedded with carbon-coated nanoparticles of nickel that allow it to conduct electricity. However, it expands when it heats up, pulling apart the nanoparticles so they no longer conduct electricity.

When the sheet cools down, the battery begins operating again.

More: Delaware Public Media

PSEG Solar Source Acquires Solar Projects in Ca., Utah

PSEG Solar Source is increasing its solar capacity to 214.6 MW with the $110 million acquisition of projects in California and Utah from Colorado solar developer juwi Inc.

The 3.9-MW PSEG Lawrence Livermore Solar Energy Center is being built at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, about 45 miles east of San Francisco.

The 62.7-MW PSEG Pavant II Solar Energy Center will be located about 110 miles south of Salt Lake City.

More: The Philadelphia Inquirer

ComEd Receives $4M Grant from DOE SunShot Initiative

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $4 million to Commonwealth Edison to create solar and battery storage technology in its microgrid demonstration project in the Bronzeville neighborhood in Chicago. The grant is part of the department’s SunShot Initiative.

The project is a precursor to ComEd’s proposed development of six microgrids in Illinois.

“Distributed generation is the future of the electric grid,” said ComEd President and CEO Anne Pramaggiore. “The microgrid demonstration we are building in Bronzeville is a blueprint for other utility-owned microgrids around the country.”

More: Commonwealth Edison

Duke Says it Set Solar Record in NC

Duke Energy says it installed more than 300 MW of solar generation in North Carolina this year, eclipsing its record of 160 MW the year before.

Duke last year spent $500 million to build four solar farms in the state with a capacity of 141 MW and bought 150 MW more.

The company said it plans to build another 75 MW of solar this year. The company expects North Carolina to rank second behind California for utility-scale solar construction in 2015.

More: The Charlotte Observer; Duke Energy

Houston Gas Firm Lays off 600 in Fayetteville Shale

Houston-based Southwestern Energy said it is laying off 1,100 employees, including 600 throughout its Fayetteville Shale operations in Arkansas, amid a steady decline in natural gas prices.

The cuts, set to be complete by the end of the first quarter, will leave 560 employees in the central Arkansas natural gas play. Southwestern said the “organizational changes” are necessary to be competitive in a “low gas price environment.”

Natural gas at regional hubs was trading around $2.13/MMBtu on Thursday, down from a 52-week high of $3.47. Southwestern reported a third-quarter net loss of $1.8 billion, or $4.62/share.

More: Arkansas Business

Enel Green Power Building 7th Wind Farm in Oklahoma

Enel Green Power North America has started construction on a 108-MW wind farm southwest of Oklahoma City, its seventh such project in Oklahoma.

Enel’s Drift Sand project is expected to be finished by the end of the year. The electricity will be sold to Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. under a long-term power purchase agreement.

Enel, whose first Oklahoma project was finished at the end of 2012, is now the state’s second-largest wind farm operator, with 958 MW. The $180 million Drift Sand wind farm will push the company to 1,066 MW of wind capacity in Oklahoma.

More: The Oklahoman

Peabody Energy Pulling out of Prairie State Energy Campus

Peabody Energy announced it is selling its share of the troubled Prairie State Energy Campus in Missouri to Wabash Valley Power Association for $57 million.

Peabody, which is being pressured by the downturn in the coal industry, said it was selling its 5.06% stake in the 1,600-MW coal-fired generating station about an hour southeast of St. Louis as part of its move to shed noncore assets.

The price of the generating station skyrocketed amidst cost overruns and missed deadlines, and stands at about $4 billion now. The plant has shown steadily increasing performance, however.

More: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Kinder Morgan Plans Spending Cuts After Q4 Losses of $637 Million

Kinder Morgan said last week that it planned to cut spending after posting a net loss of $637 million for the fourth quarter.

The company attributed the loss to higher taxes and interest expenses, coupled with a decline in market values. The company showed a net profit of $126 million for the same period a year ago. For the full year of 2015, Kinder Morgan reported net income of only $311 million, compared with nearly $1.03 billion in 2014.

The company also cut its capital budget for 2016 to $3.3 billion from its previous estimate of $4.2 billion. “What we’re trying to do is really make sure that we’re investing capital on the highest-return opportunities that we have, make sure that we’re fulfilling our commitments and delaying spend where it can be delayed or deferred, and taking on partners where it makes sense for us to take on partners,” CEO Steve Kean said Wednesday.

More: Reuters; Natural Gas Intelligence

Piedmont Gas Shareholders OK Duke Energy Deal

Shareholders of Piedmont Natural Gas approved the sale of the company to Duke Energy for $4.9 billion. Of about 81 million eligible voting shares, about 54 million voted in approval, with 1.1 million against.

Piedmont will retain its name and keep its Charlotte, N.C., headquarters. Duke has said that it does not expect many job losses as a result of the acquisition. Piedmont has about 1,900 employees.

Both Piedmont and Duke Energy are major partners in the proposed $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline that is to run from West Virginia to markets in Virginia and North Carolina.

More: The Charlotte Observer