Norsk Hydro

Norsk Hydro, simply Hydro, is one of the Norwegian renewable energy and aluminum companies with headquarters in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminum companies in the world with operations in more than 50 countries on all continents with approximately 35,000 employees.

The Norwegian state owns more than 34% of the company through the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries. The next 6.5% is from Norway's Government Pension Fund regulator, Folketrygdfond.

With financial support from the Wallenberg family of Sweden and French banks, Norsk Hydro was founded by Sam Eyde on 2 December 1905 as Norsk Hydro-Elektrisk, which means Norwegian Hydroelectric Nitrogen Ltd. The aim of the establishment is to develop a new technology to produce artificial fertilizers by fixing nitrogen in the air. The technology was developed by Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland and is still known today as the Birkeland–Eyde process.

In addition to the plants built in Notodden in 1907, and in Rjukan, Tinn in 1911, Norsk Hydro additionally erected a facility at Herya outside of Porsgrunn in 1930. It originally functioned as a port for transporting fertilizers, as well as an import point for limestone. Then, Norsk Hydro also started producing fertilizers in Heroya in 1936.

Norsk Hydro has a heavy water plant, Rjukan. It is the only site in Europe to produce heavy water, a component that the Allied powers in World War II believed might be used as part of Germany's atomic bomb project. At that time, IG Farben, a German industrial conglomerate that held stock in Norsk Hydro, asked Norsk Hydro to increase its production capacity from less than 11 liters of heavy water per month to at least 110 liters per month. As a result, many commando and air attacks as well as sabotage raids were conducted on Norsk Hydro's facilities, leading to the plant's final destruction and subsequent restoration.

As one of the aluminum producers, Hydro has facilities in Holmestrand, Rjukan, Vennesla, Karmoy, Hoyanger, Ardal, Husnes, and Raufoss in Norway. In 2010, Hydro and Qatar Energy jointly established a joint company called Qatalum, located in Qatar. It was the largest aluminum plant ever put into operation.

Industry: Metals
Founded: 1905
Headquarters: Oslo, Norway

Website: https://www.hydro.com/