# Norsk Hydro

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/companies/norsk-hydro
Norwegian aluminium producer founded in 1905. Its primary metal already has about a quarter of the industry's average carbon footprint, and it is developing HalZero, a smelting route that emits oxygen instead of CO2.

## In brief

- Hydro's primary aluminium averages under 4 kg CO2e per kg, against an industry average of 16.7 kg.
- HalZero has been in development since 2016; a NOK 400 million test facility in Porsgrunn is verifying it.
- Target: an industrial-scale HalZero pilot around 2030, alongside carbon capture work for existing smelters.

## Facts

- Founded: 1905
- Headquarters: NO
- Status: public
- Website: https://www.hydro.com
- Frontiers: [Materials](https://technooptimist.io/materials.md) (Aluminium & titanium)

## Programs

- [HalZero](https://technooptimist.io/materials/halzero.md) (Materials): Proto; next: Process verified at test scale (2026). Being verified at test scale in Porsgrunn, Norway; industrial pilot aimed for around 2030.

## Technical approach

- **Existing smelters: Carbon capture and clean power**: For today's Hall-Héroult potlines Hydro is developing carbon capture (partly with Rio Tinto) and switching fuels in alumina refining and casthouses.
- **New capacity: HalZero chloride route**: For new or rebuilt potlines, HalZero swaps the carbon-anode reaction for a chloride process whose only exhaust is oxygen.

## Open problems

- **Proving HalZero at industrial scale** (active research): Lab work and models look good, but Hydro says significant research and public-private funding are still needed before a full-size plant.

## Latest updates

- **5 Dec 2023**: HalZero wins COP28 changemaker recognition as test-facility construction is about to start. Hydro's HalZero project was recognised as an energy-transition changemaker at COP28 in Dubai, as construction of its test facility in Porsgrunn was about to begin. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/halzero-wins-cop28-changemaker-recognition-as-test-facility-bf7a3096.md) · [original source](https://www.hydro.com/en/global/media/news/2023/hydro-wins-changemaker-recognition-at-cop28-as-zero-emission-halzero-project-reaches-new-milestone/))
- **8 Mar 2023**: Hydro commits to a HalZero test facility in Porsgrunn with Norwegian state support. Hydro moved HalZero, its zero-emission smelting process, into a new development stage by investing in a test facility in Porsgrunn, Norway. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/hydro-commits-to-a-halzero-test-facility-in-porsgrunn-with-norwegian-61ba1a94.md) · [original source](https://aluminiumtoday.com/news/hydros-halzero-technology-reaches-a-new-milestone))

## Partners, customers and investors

- Enova (investor): Norwegian state enterprise; granted NOK 141 million for the HalZero test facility (2023).

## People

- Eivind Kallevik, President and CEO

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