Norwegian aluminium producer lays down green shoots

Norwegian renewable energy and aluminium producer Norsk Hydro said December 13 it was developing carbon sequestration solutions to bolt on to plants already in service.

Norsk Hydro said it aims to cut carbon emissions by 30% by 2030 and achieve net-zero for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2050, if not sooner.

To do so, the company said it was developing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies that can be retrofitted onto aluminium plants already in operation.

“Hydro has evaluated more than 50 CCS technologies and developed plans for testing and piloting the most promising up to industrial scale,” the company stated.

Industrial-scale pilot projects are expected to be in service before 2030 and Norsk Hydro said it envisioned a combination of off-gas capture and direct air capture (DAC) to realise its ambitions.

Elsewhere, the Norwegian company’s renewable energy division, Hydro REIN, is envisioning new large-scale projects in the Nordic region and in Brazil, where it operates an aluminium plant that will start switching from oil to natural gas for power. Gas supplier New Fortress Energy said that shifting from oil to natural gas could reduce the refinery’s annual CO₂ emissions by as much as 700,000 metric tons per year.

Hydro REIN anticipates an initial public offering next year.

Meanwhile, its green hydrogen unit, Hydro Havrand, is targeting hard-to-abate industrial sectors in Norway and Sweden.

“Greener aluminium with a lower carbon footprint is seen as an important enabler for the green transition,” the company stated.