The enormous industrial complex at Håvik on Karmøy is Norsk Hydro's aluminium smelter, one of the largest primary aluminium plants in Europe. It produces around 270,000 tonnes of aluminium per year.
The plant was built in 1963, partly to provide jobs for fishermen whose livelihoods were declining. It was a deliberate piece of industrial policy: bring heavy industry to the coast where people already lived, rather than force them to move. Hydro chose Håvik after local campaigners lobbied hard for it.
In 2018, Hydro opened a technology pilot here that is the most energy-efficient aluminium production line in the world, using 15 percent less energy than the industry standard. Carbon emissions per kilogram of aluminium are the lowest anywhere. Norway's cheap hydroelectric power is what makes aluminium smelting viable here in the first place.
You cannot visit the plant, but you cannot miss it either. It dominates the landscape as you drive south on Karmøy.
The plant was built in 1963, partly to provide jobs for fishermen whose livelihoods were declining. It was a deliberate piece of industrial policy: bring heavy industry to the coast where people already lived, rather than force them to move. Hydro chose Håvik after local campaigners lobbied hard for it.
In 2018, Hydro opened a technology pilot here that is the most energy-efficient aluminium production line in the world, using 15 percent less energy than the industry standard. Carbon emissions per kilogram of aluminium are the lowest anywhere. Norway's cheap hydroelectric power is what makes aluminium smelting viable here in the first place.
You cannot visit the plant, but you cannot miss it either. It dominates the landscape as you drive south on Karmøy.