“The technology Hydro has developed represents a quantum leap for climate-friendly and green industry,” says Hydro President and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg.

“This is a technological breakthrough. No one has managed to produce aluminium with such low energy consumption and high productivity as Hydro will at full-scale production.”

The new pilot plant is adjacent to Hydro’s existing aluminium operation at Karmøy. The 60 new electrolysis cells will be capable of producing 75,000 tonnes of aluminium per year.

The pilot is creating 50 new jobs, with production beginning toward the end of 2017.

15 percent lower energy consumption

“Hydro is very proud that we have managed to develop a technology that reduces energy consumption, on average, by about 15 percent per kilo of aluminium produced, which will result in the lowest carbon emissions in aluminium production anywhere in the world,” says Brandtzæg.

The goal of the pilot is to test parts of the new technology for implementation in other plants around the world, and that future expansions would use the new technology.

“If the world’s production of aluminium was made with the technology Hydro has now developed, it would save energy equivalent to Norway’s annual production of hydropower,” he adds.

The technology pilot is being unveiled with a free concert in nearby Kopervik. Prime Minister Erna Solberg will officially inaugurate the plant, and Alan Walker and young Norwegian artists will perform.

“This will be remembered as one of the big milestones of Hydro’s 111-year-long history,” Brandtzæg says.