Norsk Hydro 337551 221946784 2008-06-26T20:33:24Z 84.215.26.170 /* External links */ {{Infobox_Company | company_name = Norsk Hydro ASA| company_type = [[Public company|Public]] ({{ose|NHY}}, {{FWB|NOH}}, {{Euronext|NOHYP}})| company_logo = [[Image:Norsk Hydro.svg|110px]]| company_slogan = | foundation = 1905 | location = [[Oslo]], [[Norway]] | key_people = [[Eivind Reiten]] <small>(President and [[chief executive officer|CEO]])</small>, Terje Vareberg <small>([[chairman (official)|Chairman]] of the [[board of directors|board]])</small>| num_employees = 24,700 <small>(2007)</small><ref name="AR2007" /> | industry = [[Metal]]s, [[manufacturing]], [[renewable energy]]| products = [[Aluminium]] and related products; [[hydropower]] and [[solar power]] technologies| revenue = [[Norwegian krone|NOK]] 94,316 million <small>(2007)</small><ref name="AR2007">{{cite web |url=http://annualreporting.hydro.com/upload/Annual%20Report/Overview%20of%20all%20PDF%20documents/Main%20reports/01_annual%20report.pdf |title=Annual Report 2007 |publisher=Norsk Hydro |accessdate=2008-05-27}}</ref>| net_income = {{profit}} NOK 9,158 million <small>(2007)</small><ref name="AR2007" /> | homepage = [http://www.hydro.com/ www.hydro.com] | }} [[Image:Hydro Heroya.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Norsk Hydro plant at [[Herøya]], [[Norway]]]] '''Norsk Hydro [[Allmennaksjeselskap|ASA]]''' ({{ose|NHY}}, {{FWB|NOH}}, {{Euronext|NOHYP}}) is a [[Norway|Norwegian]] [[aluminium]] and [[renewable energy]] company, headquartered in [[Oslo]]. Hydro is the fourth largest integrated aluminium company worldwide. It has operations in some 40 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The [[Government of Norway|Norwegian state]] holds a 43.8 percent ownership interest in the company, which employs approximately 28,000 people. [[Eivind Reiten]] has been the CEO since 2001. The company had a significant presence in the [[petroleum|oil]] and [[natural gas|gas]] industry until October 2007, when these operations were merged with rival Statoil to form [[StatoilHydro]]. ==History== ===The first steps with fertilizer=== Financed by the Swedish [[Wallenberg family]] and 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 for producing artificial [[fertilizer]]s by fixing [[nitrogen]] from air. The technology had been developed by the Norwegian scientist [[Kristian Birkeland]], who originally intended to use it in the construction of an electric [[cannon]].{{cn|date=March 2008}} The fertilizer was an important boost for the food production in Europe, which was insufficient for the population at the turn of the century. The process required large amounts of electric energy, and for this, a power plant was built at the [[Svelgfossen]] waterfall near [[Notodden]]. Later also [[Rjukanfossen]] waterfall was developed and its power harnessed, in the process establishing the city of [[Rjukan]], establishing the plant [[Norsk Hydro Rjukan]]. Hydro's first factory was built at [[Notodden]] (opened in [[1907 in Norway|1907]]) followed up with another at [[Rjukan]], [[Tinn]] (opened in [[1911 in Norway|1911]]). Then in [[1912 in Norway|1912]] production is established at [[Glomfjord]] in [[Nordland]]. In [[1930 in Norway|1930]] Norsk Hydro opened a plant at [[Herøya]] outside [[Porsgrunn]]. To begin with it was to function as a shipping port for the fertilizer as well as a point to import [[limestone]]. From [[1936 in Norway|1936]] Hydro also started producing fertilizer at Herøya. There was also opened a railway, [[Rjukanbanen]], connecting Rjukan with Hærøy. The railway opened in [[1909 in Norway|1909]] and consisted of a [[railway ferry]] across [[Tinnsjø]], railway again with [[Tinnosbanen]] and a barge ride from [[Borgestad]] to Herøya with [[barge]] on the [[Telemark Canal]]. The canal was superseded by the railway line [[Bratsbergbanen]] in 1916. By the 1920s, Norsk Hydro's [[electric arc]]-based technology for manufacturing artificial fertilizer was no longer able to compete with the newly developed [[Haber process|Haber-Bosch process]], and in [[1927 in Norway|1927]] the company formed a partnership with the German company [[IG Farben]] in order to gain access to this process. By [[1945 in Norway|1945]], IG Farben had become a majority shareholder in Norsk Hydro. The plant at [[Herøya]] was a direct result of no longer being dependent on immediate proximity to the power sources. This provided the advantage of being able to have the plants and the shipping port in the same location, as was the case with the Herøya plant. ===Heavy water production at Rjukan=== The Rjukan plant was the only location in [[Europe]] which produced [[heavy water]], an essential component in the efforts to make an atom bomb, and consequently was the target of several commando and air raids and a sabotage raid which eventually [[Norwegian heavy water sabotage|resulted in the plant's destruction]] and later reconstruction. (This story was portrayed in the [[Kirk Douglas]] movie ''[[The Heroes of Telemark]]''.) ===The first metal=== [[Image:Hydro Plant Canada.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Norsk Hydro [[magnesium]] plant at [[Bécancour, Quebec]]]] The first steps towards [[light metal]] production came in [[1940 in Norway|1940]] when Hydro started construction of a [[magnesium carbonate]] plant at Herøya, but the [[Operation Weserübung|German invasion of Norway]] stopped the plans. During the [[Second World War]] Norsk Hydro collaborated intimately with [[Nazi Germany]] during the first part of the war. Besides IG Farben, Norsk Hydro also cooperated closely with the [[Luftwaffe]]-operated ''[[Nordische Aluminium Aktiengesellschaft]]'' (Nordag) in building new [[aluminium]] and [[magnesium]] plants in support of the German war effort. The construction was however ended on July 24, [[1943]] when an allied bombardment completely destroyed the facilities, killing 55 construction workers. As Germany's defeat became more likely, Norsk Hydro started to tone down its collaborative relations with the occupier. In [[1946 in Norway|1946]] the [[Årdal]] aluminium plant was opened, operated by the state owned company [[Årdal og Sunndal Verk]]. In a merger Hydro acquired this company in [[1986 in Norway|1986]], in essence establishing the [[light metal]] division [[Hydro Aluminium]]. Since [[1919 in Norway|1919]] there had first been [[zinc]], then aluminium production at [[Glomfjord]] in Northern Norway. Hydro bought the power plant in [[1947 in Norway|1947]] and started ammonia production there instead. In the 1950s Hydro opened a new [[magnesium]] plant in Herøya and in [[1963 in Norway|1963]] Hydro started in cooperation with [[Harvey Aluminum]] a plant at [[Karmøy]] to produce aluminium. The plant, called Alnor, was purchased in whole by Hydro in 1973. In 2002 Hydro acquired the leading [[Germany|German]] aluminium producer ''Vereinigte Aluminium Werke'' from the German utility company [[E.ON]]. ===Into the petroleum age=== {{main|Hydro Oil & Gas}} In [[1965 in Norway|1965]] Hydro joined [[Elf Aquitaine]] and six other [[France|French]] companies to form [[Petronord]] to perform search for oil and gas in the [[North Sea]]. Hydro soon became a large company in the North Sea petroleum industry, and also became operator of a number of fields, the first being [[Oseberg Oil Field|Oseberg]]. In 1969 Hydro started its first international operations, with a 25% stake in a fertilizer plant in [[Qatar]]. Hydro acquired in the late 1980s the [[Mobil]] service stations in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, changing their name to [[Hydro (fuel station)|Hydro]]. In [[1995 in Norway|1995]] Hydro merged its [[gas station]]s in Norway and Denmark with the [[Texaco]], creating the [[joint venture]] [[HydroTexaco]]. The service station chain was sold in [[2006 in Norway|2006]] to [[Reitangruppen]]. In [[1999 in Norway|1999]] Hydro acquired Norway's third largest petroleum company [[Saga Petroleum]], which had major [[Upstream (oil industry)|upstream]] operations primarily in Norway and the [[United Kingdom]]. The British operations were later sold. Hydro's fertilizer business was spun off as a separately stock-listed company under the name of [[Yara International]] on March 26, [[2004 in Norway|2004]]. Hydro distributed all its Yara shares to Hydro's shareholders and presently has no ownership in Yara. In December [[2006 in Norway|2006]] Norsk Hydro revealed a proposal to merge their oil business with compatriate oil and gas company [[Statoil]].<ref>[http://www.hydro.com/cgi-bin/www.hydro.com/show_press_rel.cgi?file=/en/press_room/press_releases/archive/2006_12/2768/2768_en.html Hydro's oil and gas activities to merge with Statoil], ''Norsk Hydro'', published 2006-12-18, accessed 2007-06-20</ref> Under the rules of the [[European Economic Area|EEA]] the proposal was approved by the [[European Union]] on May 3, 2007<ref name="EUB070305">[http://www.eubusiness.com/Energy/statoil-norsk.44/ EU regulators approve Statoil, Norsk Hydro merger], ''EU Business'', published 2007-05-03, accessed 2007-06-20</ref> and by the [[Storting|Norwegian Parliament]] on June 8, 2007.<ref name="OR070611">[http://www.ocean-resources.com/news/ournews.asp?NewsID=5709 Norwegian Parliament Okays Statoil-Hydro Merger], ''Ocean-Resources'', published 2007-06-11, accessed 2007-06-20</ref> The merger was completed by [[1 October]] [[2007 in Norway|2007]]. Hydro’s shareholders took 32.7% of the new company—[[StatoilHydro]]—shares.<ref name="EUB070305"/> ==Operations== ===Energy=== Hydro is a major producer of [[wind power|wind]] and [[hydroelectric]] power. In May 2005, Norsk Hydro became a major backer of a [[Portugal|Portuguese]] wave-farming project to produce electricity from wave power.{{cn|date=March 2008}} The project will use Pelamis P-750 Wave Energy Converters developed by Ocean Power Delivery to produce an estimated 2.25 [[megawatts]] of [[renewable energy]] in the subsequent year. ===Aluminium=== Hydro is the fourth largest integrated [[aluminium]] company world wide.{{cn|date=March 2008}} In Norway Hydro has plants in [[Rjukan]], [[Porsgrunn]], [[Vennesla]], [[Karmøy]], [[Høyanger]], [[Årdal]], [[Sunndalsøra]], [[Holmestrand]], [[Magnor]] and [[Raufoss]]. The corporation also has plants abroad. ===Hydro Agri=== Though Hydro started off as a fertilizer producer and agricultural products was for a long time one of the companies major ventures, the agricultural division was in [[2004 in Norway|2004]] demerged into the independent company [[Yara International]], listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. == Chief Executive Officers == * 1905&ndash;1917 [[Sam Eyde]] * 1918&ndash;1926 [[Harald Bjerke]] * 1926&ndash;1941 [[Axel Aubert]] * 1941&ndash;1956 [[Bjarne Eriksen]] * 1956&ndash;1967 [[Rolf Østbye]] * 1967&ndash;1977 [[Johan B. Holte]] * 1977&ndash;1984 [[Odd Narud]] * 1984&ndash;1991 [[Torvild Aakvaag]] * 1991&ndash;2001 [[Egil Myklebust]] * 2001&ndash; [[Eivind Reiten]] ==External links== *[http://www.hydro.com Norsk Hydro ASA official website] *[http://www.hydro.com/en/about/history/ Norsk Hydro ASA company history website] *[http://www.hydro.com/en/Our-business/Aluminium/ Overview of Norsk Hydro ASA aluminium products and services] ==References== {{reflist}} <br> {{OBXList}} {{coor title dms|59|54|50.97|N|10|39|2.42|E|type:landmark}} [[Category:Aluminium companies]] [[Category:Power companies of Norway]] [[Category:Companies established in 1905]] [[Category:Companies based in Oslo]] [[Category:Economy of Houston, Texas]] [[Category:Norsk Hydro]] [[Category:Aluminium companies of Norway]] [[da:Norsk Hydro]] [[de:Norsk Hydro]] [[es:Norsk Hydro]] [[fr:Norsk Hydro]] [[it:Norsk Hydro]] [[nl:Norsk Hydro]] [[no:Norsk Hydro]] [[nn:Norsk Hydro]] [[ru:Norsk Hydro]] [[sv:Norsk Hydro]]