Norsk Hydro

Vemork's heavy water plant.

Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian company in the aluminum and renewable energy sector headquartered in Oslo. Hydro is the fourth largest company in the global aluminum sector. It has operations in 40 countries around the world and is active on five continents. The Norwegian government owns 43.8 percent of the company, which employs approximately 23,000 people. Svein Richard Brandtzæg was its CEO from 2009 until May 2019 when he handed over the management to Hilde Merete Aasheim.

The company had a significant presence in the oil and gas industry until October 2007, when these operations merged with its competitor Statoil to form StatoilHydro (in 2009 renamed Statoil).

This company is not only dedicated to the production of energy but also to the production of artificial fertilizers for agriculture through a process of fixing nitrogen from the air.

During World War II it had the only facility in Europe capable of producing heavy water. Therefore, it was the object of constant sabotage operations and aerial bombardments until its destruction. Notodden remains the headquarters of the Hydrogen Technologies Division, a world leader in alkaline electrolysis technologies.

History

First steps as a fertilizer producer

Financed by the Wallenberg family of Swedish origin and by French banks, the company was founded on December 2, 1905 as Norsk hydro-elektrisk Kvælstofaktieselskab (lit. Norwegian hydro-electric nitrogen limited) by Sam Eyde, exploiting a novel technology in the production of fertilizers by fixing nitrogen from the air. The technology had been developed by Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland. The method is still known as the Birkeland–Eyde process. Fertilizer was an important stimulus for food production in Europe, which was insufficient for the population at the turn of the century. The process required the supply of large amounts of electrical power, and for this purpose, a hydroelectric plant was built at the Svelgfossen waterfall near Notodden. Subsequently, the hydroelectric plant was developed next to the Rjukanfossen waterfall, establishing the city of Rjukan in the process.

Hydro's first factory was built at Notodden (opened 1907) followed by others at Rjukan, Tinn (opened 1911). In 1912 a production center was established at Glomfjor in Nordland. In 1930 Norsk Hydro opened a plant at Herøya on the outskirts of Porsgrunn. To start this, he had to put into operation a seaport for the transport of fertilizer as well as for the importation of limestone. From 1936 Hydro also started the production of fertilizers in Herøya. A railway line, Rjukanbanen, was also opened, connecting Rjukan with Hærøy. The railway was opened in 1909 and consisted of a train ferry across Tinnsjø, a section of railway via the Tinnosbanen and a barge transfer from Borgestad to Herøya along the Telemark Canal. The canal was replaced by a railway line (Bratsbergbanen) in 1916.

By the 1920s, Norsk Hydro's electric arc technology for artificial fertilizer manufacturing could no longer compete with more modern Haber-Bosch manufacturing processes, and in 1927 the company formed a joint venture with the German company IG Farben to gain access to the process. By 1945, IG Farben had become the majority shareholder in Norsk Hydro. The Herøya plant was the direct result of not relying on the immediate proximity of power sources. This provided the advantage of being able to have production plants and seaports in the same location, as in the case of the Herøya plant.

Heavy water production in Rjukan

Samples of "Heavy Water" manufactured by Norsk Hydro.

The Rjukan plant was the only location in Europe that produced heavy water, a component that the Allied powers during World War II feared could be used as part of the German nuclear power production program, and as a consequence was targeted of several air raids and sabotage operations by special commandos that finally resulted in the destruction of the plant and subsequent reconstruction.

The first metals

The first steps in the production of light metals began in 1940 when Hydro began construction of the magnesium carbonate plant at the Herøya plant, but the German invasion of Norway brought the plants to a standstill.

During World War II Norsk Hydro collaborated with IG Farben and Nordische Aluminum Aktiengesellschaft (Nordag) in the construction of new aluminum and magnesium plants in support of Germany's war efforts. Construction was however completed on July 24, 1943, when an Allied bombing raid completely destroyed the facility, killing 55 construction workers. As Germany's defeat became more plausible, Norsk Hydro began to tone down collaborative relations with the occupiers.

In 1946 the Årdal aluminum plant was opened, operated by the state company Årdal og Sunndal Verk. In a merger Hydro acquired this company in 1986, essentially establishing the Hydro Aluminum light metals division.

Since 1919 there has been first zinc, and then aluminum production in Glomfjord in northern Norway. Hydro bought the power plant in 1946 and started ammonia production in its place. In the 1950s Hydro opened a new magnesium plant in Herøya and in 1963 Hydro began, in cooperation with Harvey Aluminum, the construction of a plant in Karmøy for the production of aluminium. The plant, named Alnor, was wholly acquired by Hydro in 1973.

In 2002 Hydro acquired the leading German aluminum producer Vereinigte Aluminum Werke from the service company E.ON.

In the age of oil

In 1965 Hydro joined Elf Aquitaine and six other French companies to explore for oil and gas in the North Sea. Hydro soon became one of the major operators in the North Sea oil industry, becoming the operator of several oil fields, the first being Oseberg.

In 1969 Hydro began its first international operations, taking a 25% stake in a fertilizer plant in Qatar.

Hydro acquired Mobil service stations in Norway, Sweden and Denmark in the late 1980s, changing its name to Hydro. In 1995 Hydro merged its gas stations in Norway and Denmark with Texaco, creating the joint venture company HydroTexaco. The service station chain was sold in 2006 to Reitangruppen. In 1999 Hydro acquired Sada Petroleum, Norway's third largest oil company, which had its main exploration and development operations in Norway and the UK. The British operations were later sold.

Hydro's fertilizer business was spun off into a separate publicly traded company, Yara International, on March 26, 2004. Hydro distributed all of its Yara shares to Hydro shareholders and currently has no interest in Yara.

In December 2006 Norsk Hydro revealed a proposal to merge the oil business with compatriot oil and gas company Statoil. Under the rules of the European Economic Area (EEA) the proposal was approved by the European Union on the 3rd of May 2007 and by the Norwegian Parliament on June 8, 2007. The merger was completed on October 1, 2007. Hydro took a 32.7% stake in the new company, named StatoilHydro.

Operations

Aluminum

Hydro is the world's fourth largest company in the integral aluminum sector. In Norway Hydro has plants in Rjukan, Porsgrunn, Vennesla, Karmøy, Høyanger, Årdal, Sunndalsøra, Holmestrand and Magnor. The corporation also has plants abroad.

Qatalum will be the largest aluminum plant ever built. It will be located in Qatar and is a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and Hydro. It will have a capacity during the first phase of 585,000 tons of primary aluminum. A 1,350 MW natural gas power plant will also be built to ensure stability in the electricity supply.

Energy

Hydro is a major producer of wind and hydroelectric power. In May 2005, Norsk Hydro became one of the main partners in a renewable energy project in Portugal harnessing tidal force. The project includes Pelamis P-750 wave energy converters developed by Pelamis Wave Power (formerly Ocean Power Delivery) for an estimated production of 2.25 megawatts of renewable energy during the following year.

Hydro Agriculture

Although Hydro began its activities as a producer of fertilizers and agricultural products was the company's largest division, the agriculture division was spun off in 2004 into the independent company Yara International, listed on the Oslo stock exchange.

CEOs

• 1905-1917 Sam Eyde
• 1918-1926 Harald Bjerke
• 1926-1941 Axel Aubert
• 1941-1956 Bjarne Eriksen
• 1956-1967 Rolf Østbye
• 1967-1977 Johan B. Holte
• 1977-1984 Odd Narud
• 1984-1991 Torvild Aakvaag
• 1991-2001 Egil Myklebust
• 2001-2009 Eivind Reiten
• 2009-2019 Svein Richard Brandtzaeg
• 2019-Updated Hilde Merete Aasheim