When Hydro starts its operations – in Norway – factories, railways, ferries and power plants are built. In addition, entire urban communities are created. The company builds homes for their employees, to some extent in Notodden and even more so in Rjukan. Here Hydro also takes responsibility for many of the institutions considered public services today – including the operation of hospitals.

On 21 April 1917 five men meet in Berlin and establish "Vereinigte Aluminium-Werke Aktiengesellschaft". In the 1920s, the company implements the first social programs for its employees, including retirement pension and housing.

Loaded with experience from the building of Notodden and Rjukan, Sigurd Kloumann assumes responsibility for power plants, smelters and local communities in Høyanger, Norway. The plant later becomes part of ÅSV and finally Hydro. The vision is to build a green industrial city, with parks, avenues, houses and gardens, providing good living conditions for everyone. Høyanger becomes a spearhead in the development of the Norwegian welfare state.

Despite the fact that Rjukan is located between high mountains, the city residents should be able to see the sun during the winter months. So Hydro constructs a gondola lift from the valley up to the top of the mountain. Everyone is allowed to use the Krossobane and tickets cost two cents - right up until the 1970s. The cable-way is still a popular attraction today.

After a decade of wage cuts, Norwegian employers demand an additional 15 percent reduction during labor negotiations. The result is a conflict and a lockout by the employers. At Hydro's terminal in Menstad, non-union employees continue working. Unionized workers take action, and police and military forces are deployed to restore order. The conflict has become the Norwegian symbol of labor unrest in the "dirty thirties."

"The dirty thirties" are at their worst when Hydro lets 400 employees go in Notodden. Production is temporarily halted and many workers are transferred to Porsgrunn. One of the countermeasures is to move the company's sack production from Oslo to Notodden. This creates 100 new jobs in the short term. New initiatives follow later.

Hydro is involved in the construction of German-owned Nordag's aluminium and magnesium projects at Herøya in Porsgrunn. Prisoners of war are conscripted into the construction of plants which are bombed by the U.S. Air Force. Fifty-five lives are lost and further progress in the projects is stopped. Prisoners of war are also used to build Hydro's power station in Mår in Telemark county and when German authorities build the aluminium plant in Årdal.

Hydro and the union local at Herøya enter into a productivity agreement to strengthen efficiency, effectiveness and cost-consciousness. This cooperation agreement is initiated in several factories. Training is combined with theory and practical training that leads to an apprenticeship certificate and makes Hydro into a corporate pioneer. Relations between management and the workers are improved, while the number of employees actually drops.

Hydro participates in Mineração Rio do Norte S.A., MRN, in Brazil, holding five percent in the bauxite mine located in Trombetas in the State of Pará. The region is partly populated by the Quilombolos, an indigenous people descending from former slaves of African origin. After the agreement with Vale in 2011, Hydro will also process Vale's share of the MRN production, 40 percent of the total annual production of approximately 16 million tonnes.

The state-owned aluminium company ÅSV and Hydro's aluminium business merge. Hydro owns 70 percent of the shares in the new company and buys the remainder in 1988. ÅSV aluminium plants have lower productivity than Hydro's prior to the merger. This is the start of a series of efficiency measures and job cuts, culminating in 1991 with about 1 000 fewer jobs, shared between 400 in Årdal, 350 in Sunndal, 200 in Karmøy and 100 fewer in Høyanger.

The plan is to develop a bauxite mine and an alumina refinery in a remote area also inhabited by indigenous Khonds. The project turns out to be very complex including conflicting interests between national and local politics, extensive bureaucracy and a cross-section of NGOs with various agendas. Hydro withdraws from the project in 2002, following the fatal shooting by the local police of three men in a nearby village.

Hydro establishes ethical guidelines applicable to all employees. These cover, among other things, questions about integrity (including gifts and other benefits), conflicts of interest, personal conduct and the handling of confidential information.

The Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes are created. Many perceive these to be the world's most prestigious sustainability indexes. Hydro has earned a place right from the first year.

Hydro acquires a 34 percent share in the alumina refinery Alunorte in Barcarena, Pará in Brazil. Following three expansions, Alunorte is by 2008 the world’s largest alumina refinery. Hydro helps develop Alunorte’s education and sports program, where kids are inspired to take school seriously in order to qualify for Alunorte Rain Forest - the football team travelling every year to the Norway Cup, the world’s largest youth soccer tournament.

Hydro acquires Wells Aluminum Corp., a major extrusion company with seven plants in six states in the U.S. The business includes a foundry that produces extrusion ingot.

After 50 years as a producer of magnesium Hydro finds it necessary to close these plants in Norway and Canada. The reaction is strong. Transition measures include severance packages, support for new startups and job relocation counseling. After some time, the restructuring in Porsgrunn is hailed as a success story. Many new, future-oriented jobs are created and experience gained here comes in handy later in several places e.g. in the UK, Germany and Norway.

Rock fill removed during the construction of the new Tyin power plant is used to improve the national highway over the Tyin mountain in cooperation with the National Roads Administration. The improvement leads to increased uptime for the highway during the winter. Together with the municipality of Årdal, a tourist trail is created and a new water supply to Årdal is built. The project is implemented in dialogue with local residents.

An assessment is completed of the impacts on the environment and society arising from the construction of the Qatalum aluminium plant in Qatar. The assessment is communicated to the local population through supplements distributed with newspapers and public meetings.

Hydro initiates an extensive investigation into allegations of corruption in Libya in the early 2000s. The case, which comes up in connection with the merger of Hydro's oil and gas activities with Statoil, receives a lot of attention. The National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime in Norway (ØKOKRIM) decides in May 2009 not to initiate a criminal investigation into the case.

The cornerstone of the new Qatalum aluminium plant in Qatar is laid. Hydro owns 50 percent and has been responsible for the project. At the peak there are more than 20 000 workers on the construction site. Almost all are migrant workers and the project builds its own village with space for 10 000 workers. The village sets a new standard for accommodation of workers in Qatar.

Qatalum starts production from the new aluminium plant in Qatar. Hydro, which owns 50 percent of the plant, receives criticism from some quarters for the working conditions in Qatar. This includes that the country does not allow freedom of association for migrant workers.

Hydro acquires most of Vale’s aluminium assets in Brazil. This includes 60 percent of the Paragominas bauxite mine, increasing to full ownership by 2015. In addition, Hydro becomes majority-owner in Alunorte, the aluminium smelter Albras and the planned alumina refinery CAP. Some 3 600 employees and 1 500 contractor-employees join Hydro.

American Charles Martin Hall and Frenchman Paul Héroult independently discover an industrial method for producing aluminium. The first full-scale production facility is ready in the United States in 1888. Until then, aluminium had been very expensive. The process requires large amounts of electricity - 50 to 60 kWh per kg. In 2009 Hydro consumed an average of 13.9 kWh per kg aluminium and we are working continuously to reduce this further.

NACO builds an aluminium plant in Høyanger, Norway. The vision is to build a green industrial city, with parks, avenues, houses and gardens, providing good living conditions for everyone. The driven project manager Sigurd Kloumann is responsible for the development. Earlier he has led Hydro's large-scale construction efforts in Notodden and Rjukan, both in Norway. NACO later becomes part of ÅSV, which is taken over by Hydro in 1986.

Vereinigte Aluminium-Werke AG (VAW) starts producing aluminium in Lauta.in Germany. In the same period, Erftwerk starts production in Grevenbroich.. Erftwerk is later aquired by VAW, which is finally acquired by Hydro in 2002.

VAW starts up a rolling mill in Grevenbroich, Germany. The annual production is 150 tonnes of aluminium foil. VAW is acquired by Hydro in 2002.

ÅSV starts producing aluminium in Årdal in Norway after a plant that was begun by German interests during World War II is completed. Construction during the war was carried out largely by forced laborers. ÅSV and the Årdal plant are acquired by Hydro in 1986.

The Norwegian Parliament appoints a "Smoke Damage Commission", largely triggered by fluoride damage caused by aluminium production at Årdal. This is one of the forerunners to the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT), which is established in 1974 and later becomes The Climate and Pollution Agency (KLIF) in 2010. In 1958, Hydro employs the first engineer who has the job of measuring and assessing dust emissions.

Hydro moves into the aluminium industry with the establishment of Alnor together with the U.S. company Harvey Aluminum Inc. The company uses contemporary Søderberg technology. With mostly open cells, the work environment in the smelters is far from ideal. Later Hydro develops its own technology, which provides a cleaner indoor environment, reduced external emissions and lower energy consumption.

Hydro establishes its own environmental department at its facilities in Porsgrunn. At the same time, the Norwegian Institute for Air Research establishes its own laboratory in the same area, with automatic monitoring of industrial air pollution. When SFT is established in 1974, this laboratory is converted to SFT's first operational district unit.

In 1971-1972, Hydro and BP conduct one of the world's first environmental impact studies for an industrial project, prior to the planned construction of the oil refinery in Mongstad.

Hydro begins a costly multi-year program to improve environmental standards in its industrial plants in Norway. New and improved processing and treatment technology is developed. For Hydro, this is a requirement to obtain government approval to build new petrochemical industries.

Hydro's management decides to give a higher priority to environmental issues. Rolf Marstrander, former director at the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority, is appointed as Hydro's first environmental director. A more systematic and long-term approach to environmental work is initiated.

Two employees are killed and one is critically injured when the ammonia plant at Hydro's Herøya plant in Porsgrunn, Norway explodes. The accident is a tragic reminder that petrochemical production can be very dangerous.

The aluminium metal plants at Høyanger, Årdal and Sunndal in Norway struggle with serious emission problems. When these plants are acquired by Hydro, improvements are made not only in technical areas, but also in attitudes, motivation and practices. Fluoride emissions are greatly reduced without the need for major initial investments.

Hydro's environmental profile is under strong attack from both non-governmental organizations and the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority. Much of the criticism is directed at the management of older environmental issues. Hydro sets a new direction for its environmental and safety activities, and a focus on this is built into the regular management and reporting systems. The company also publishes in 1989 one of the world's first environmental reports.

Hydro introduces specific guidelines for health, safety and environment that are applicable to all company activities. HSE requirements are also established for acquisitions and investments. In 1993 Hydro's environmental principles is added. They assess products using a life cycle perspective. This means the company will favor products that can be recycled or reused and will place corresponding demands on individual employees and suppliers.

Negative impacts from fluoride in the vicinity of smelters leads to a number of measures to reduce emissions from the middle of the 1980s. Norwegian aluminium producers initiate a study of environmental effects related to the Norwegian smelters. The report forms the basis for additional measures and future decisions. The study is still considered the most extensive ever completed on the environmental effects associated with aluminium production.

Hydro buys 34 percent of Brazilian Alunorte, which as the result of several expansions becomes the world's largest alumina refinery. One byproduct of alumina production is large amounts of red mud. The red mud depot at Alunorte is considered one of the best in the world.

Sunndal 4 opens in Norway. The new production line for aluminium is built with Hydro's proprietary electrolytic technology that delivers gains for the environment and production. This technology is developed further for use in Qatalum. There is a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the so-called anode effect - work that will later be applied at Hydro's other aluminium plants.

The closure of Hydro's Søderberg-based plants starts in Høyanger. A similar plant is closed in Årdal in 2007 and the company's last Søderberg plant in Karmøy is shut down in 2009. The plants are closed for environmental reasons and the closures contribute to a significant improvement in energy consumption and emissions.

Hydro opens its first energy-neutral building, in Bellenberg, Germany. Measurements show that the building produces more energy than it uses.

Following extensive construction efforts, production starts at Qatalum. The smelter plant uses the same technology as Hydro's most energy-efficient plant Sunndal 4, thereby ensuring lower emissions.

Hydro acquires Vale's substantial aluminium operations which include bauxite mining, alumina refining and aluminium production in Pará in Brazil - an area which is home to significant biological diversity.

A new environmental strategy is established to reduce Hydro's footprint, help our customers improve their footprint and improving aluminium as a material.

Hydro's first production facility is under construction at Notodden in Norway. The day laborers - roustabouts - often have short assignments before they move on to new jobs. Many of them are Swedish and far from home. Most of the work is done in difficult terrain and mostly by hand. Protective equipment is still far in the future.

The first collective agreement is reached at Notodden in Norway and covers, among other things, general wage increases, overtime provisions and a reduction of working time from 59 to 57 hours per week: ten-hour workday, seven hours on Saturday. A worker can still be fired on the spot, without prior notice and without knowing why.

At Hydro's first production sites, Notodden and Rjukan in Norway, health care services and a treatment room are created. At Rjukan, cooperation between doctors and representatives of the trade unions, leads to several initiatives, including a more systematic effort to determine the causes of injuries and health problems.

After a decade of wage cuts, Norwegian employers demand an additional 15 percent reduction during labor negotiations. The result is a conflict and a lockout by the employers. At Hydro's terminal at Menstad near Porsgrunn in Norway, non-union employees continue working. Unionized workers take action and police and military forces are deployed to restore order. The conflict has become the symbol of labor unrest in the "dirty thirties."

Hydro's plants at Herøya in Porsgrunn, Norway get health services and their own doctor. This is offered at the other plant locations and is seen eventually as a valuable health benefit. In 1955, there are six doctors and ten nurses providing health services at the Herøya plants.

Hydro is present when participants representing organized labor, employers and government establish the Workplace Committee Against Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (AKAN). The aim is to find better solutions than firing employees with substance abuse problems. These efforts have led over the years to today's substance abuse policy which is integrated into the overall health, safety and environment program.

Hydro starts in the aluminium business, outfitting Alnor in Karmøy, Norway with Søderberg technology. With mostly open cells, the work environment in the pot rooms is far from ideal. Later Hydro develops its own technology, which provides a cleaner indoor environment, reduced external emissions and lower energy consumption. Hydro's last Søderberg plant is closed down in 2009.

Hydro and the union local at Herøya, Norway enter into a productivity agreement to strengthen efficiency, effectiveness and cost-consciousness. This cooperation agreement is initiated in several factories. Teaching is combined with theory and practical training that leads to an apprenticeship certificate and makes Hydro into a corporate pioneer. Relations between management and the workers are improved, while the number of employees is reduced.

Hydro halts production at the PVC plant in Porsgrunn, Norway after a report presents a potential link between liver cancer and exposure to vinyl chloride monomer. Comprehensive health checks are carried out. The company modifies the production process, improves protective equipment and implements incentives that reward the employees financially when lower gas levels are measured in the factory.

Exposure to dust and process gases in the electrolysis pot rooms causes instances of a lung disease called pot room asthma in workers. Several measures are taken to improve the situation, including better ventilation systems and the introduction of protective equipment. As a result, the incidence of pot room asthma drops significantly.

Hydro introduces a specific health, safety and environment (HSE) policy for all company activities. Clear HSE requirements are also established for acquisitions and investments. In 1993 the HSE policy is supplemented with Hydro's environmental principles which assess products using a life cycle perspective. The company will favor products that can be recycled or reused and will place corresponding demands on individual employees and suppliers.

The presence of carcinogenic substances at Norwegian aluminium plants is causing concern. A larger survey of 11 103 workers shows that cancer morbidity and mortality is on par with the national average except for a slightly higher incidence of bladder cancer. Process improvements, closure of the Søderberg potlines and sealing of facilities are implemented and contribute to improvements in the work environment.

Hydro creates a special assessment tool for identifying physical and chemical hazards in the work environment. This empowers line managers to map local issues and implement targeted solutions. The tool eventually becomes mandatory for all production sites and is followed up using a common reporting system.

After 50 years as a producer of magnesium Hydro finds it necessary to close these plants in Norway and Canada. The reaction is strong. Measures include severance packages, support for new startups and job relocation counseling. After some time, the restructuring in Porsgrunn is hailed as a success story. Many new jobs are created and experience gained here comes in handy later in several places in e. g. the UK, Germany and Norway.

Hydro presents a comprehensive impact assessment of closing down the Søderberg potlines in Høyanger, Årdal and Karmøy in Norway following new emission requirements. The company decides to launch and participate in local restructuring and industrial development programs to alleviate the impacts of the job losses. Employee representatives and the affected municipalities participate in the study and agree on the measures proposed.

Hydro introduces global minimum labor standards. The requirements are based partly on ILO's core conventions and cover working hours, child and forced labor, wages, pregnancy, care for newborns and insurance matters related to work-related illness or injury.

Hydro owns 50 percent of Qatalum and is responsible for the project. A new village for the accommodation of construction workers sets a new standard in Qatar. Methods of cooperation are established to make up for the fact that the construction workers cannot form normal unions - because Qatar does not allow such organizing of migrant workers.

Hydro's total injury rate is 3.7 injuries per million hours worked. This includes injuries leading to absence, injuries resulting in alternative work, and injuries demanding medical treatment. Since 2000, the injury rate has decreased from 14 injuries per million hours worked. The company did not meet its 2010 target of 2.3.

Our TRI rate (total recordable injuries per million hours worked) is 3.8. This represents an increase of 2 percent compared with 2010, while our target was a 28 percent decrease. We have three fatal accidents in our consolidated operations. Even though our safety results are among the best in industry, we are far from satisfied.

American Charles Martin Hall and Frenchman Paul Héroult independently discover an industrial method for producing aluminium. The first full-scale production facility is ready in the United States in 1888. Until then, aluminium had been very expensive. The process requires large amounts of electricity - 50 to 60 kWh per kg. In 2009 Hydro consumed an average of 13.9 kWh per kg aluminium and we are working continuously to reduce this further.

Hydro's first industrial facility - producing calcium nitrate with the company's leading-edge technology - requires a lot of electricity. In 1907, the company uses 30 000 horsepower from the power plant at Svelgfoss in Norway. At the same time the company begins construction at Rjukanfossen and the power plants Vemork (1912) and Saaheim (1915). Both were the largest in the world at the time.

Vigeland Brug starts pilot production of aluminium. Vigeland is a small business and in 1948 switches to the production of high purity (99.999 percent) aluminium. Hydro owns 50 percent of the company after acquiring VAW in 2002.

A/S Stangfjord Elektrokjemiske Fabrikker commences operation with British owners. The plant is in operation until 1945. Stangfjord was important for the future aluminium industry in Norway. Employees from here later helped to build up aluminium plants in Norway.

With a suitcase full of experience from the building of Notodden and Rjukan in Norway, Sigurd Kloumann assumes responsibility for power plants, smelters and local communities in Høyanger for NACO. The company later becomes part of ÅSV and finally Hydro. The vision is to build a green industrial city, with parks, avenues, houses and gardens, providing good living conditions for everyone. Høyanger becomes a spearhead in the development of the Norwegian welfare state.

The military rearmament during the 1930s creates a high demand for light metals. The German production increases from 33 000 tons in 1933 to 195 000 tons in 1939. VAW alone accounts for 20 percent of global aluminium production when World War II breaks out. After the war, German production starts up again in 1948 and demand for aluminium increases again sharply in the beginning of the 1950s.

Hydro establishes a research laboratory on Herøya in Porsgrunn. The lab later becomes Hydro's Research Center, Hydro's largest prior to the sale of the oil and gas business in 2007. In 2010, Hydro's Norwegian expertise center for alumina and bauxite is located here.

The Norwegian Parliament decides to build an aluminium plant in Sunndal. The operation, which starts production in 1954, is funded in part with support from the Marshall Plan.

VAW enters a period of expansion with the construction of the aluminium plant in Neuss in Germany. In 1970, Alunorf is built in the same city. Alunorf, 50 percent owned by VAW, becomes the world's largest rolling and remelting facility for aluminium. In 1973, a new rolling mill is built in Grevenbroich. The plant is expanded in 1987.

Hydro decides to build an aluminium plant at Karmøy in Norway together with the American company Harvey Aluminium. The facility is based on Søderberg technology. A rolling mill and extrusion plant are also built to process the metal further. Production starts in 1967. Hydro takes over the entire operation in 1973.

After a visit to Alcan, ÅSV invests in the new pre-bake technology Alcan is using. It is installed in the new production line being built in Sunndalsøra in Norway during 1967-69. This technology is chosen while construction of the buildings is in progress. It is the first time closed electrolysis cells with pre-baked anodes are used in the aluminium industry in Norway.

Hydro's first foreign investment in aluminium is the construction of an extrusion plant in Tønder, Denmark. The initiative also heralds Hydro's new interest in the production of aluminium profiles.

The new production line in Høyanger is the source of Hydro's proprietary electrolytic technology that is constantly improved and rolled out to the new facilities Hydro has built in recent years. HAL technology is installed in Venalum 5 in Venezuela, Slovalco in Slovakia, Sunndal 4 in Norway and Qatalum in Qatar. The newest members of the family are the test cells in Årdal.

Hydro acquires the Norwegian state-owned company ÅSV and achieves a combined annual capacity of 600 000 tonnes of primary aluminium. ÅSV, which contributes 390 000 tonnes, has a strong tradition of research and technology development that is carried forward in Hydro. The research center in Årdal specializes in electrolysis and carbon, while the research center in Sunndal concentrates on metallurgy.

With the purchase of five extrusion plants from Alcan, Hydro almost doubles its extrusion capacity and becomes Europe's largest company in this area.

Hydro acquires 25 percent of Wicona, a supplier of high quality building systems to the German market. Three years later Hydro takes over the entire company. This company, together with Domal and later Technal, forms the basis for Hydro Building Systems. About 50 percent of all aluminium profiles produced are used by the building industry.

The remelter in Holmestrand in Norway – as the first of the then Hydro facilities – receives its first shipload of post-consumer aluminium scrap to use as raw material for its production of aluminium rolled products. Recycling of aluminium requires only about 5 percent of the energy that goes into the production of primary aluminium.

Hydro contributes to the creation of the Institute for Industrial Ecology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cooperation with the university grows steadily and leads to an Industrial Ecology Program. In 1999 the program becomes interdisciplinary, combining technology, the natural sciences and the social sciences in the search for sustainable solutions for the production and consumption of energy and resources.

Production of aluminium profiles generates significant amounts of processing scrap. In 1996, Hydro acquires the Clervaux remelting plant in Luxembourg, where process scrap is melted into extrusion ingot. A remelting facility can, depending on its equipment, also take in and recycle used aluminium scrap. Hydro's remelting capacity has grown to include nine stand-alone remelting plants in 2011 with a combined annual capacity of approx. 550 000 tonnes.

VAW buys rolling mills in Germany, Italy and Spain from Reynolds. In 2000, the aluminium plant at Kurri Kurri in Australia is also acquired.

New Sunndal plant is built. The development of the new production line Su4 makes the plant Europe's largest producer of aluminium. In 2005, Sunndal produces 330 000 tonnes of extrusion ingot. Su4 is built with HAL250 technology, a refinement of Hydro's proprietary technology that meets all known Norwegian and international environmental standards. An improved version of the Sunndal technology will later be used in Qatar.

With the acquisition of German VAW, Hydro becomes a major supplier of rolled products and grows further in profile production. The acquisition leads to an increased focus on the creation of products in which aluminium's special properties can help to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Hydro takes over the French company Technal, a major European player in aluminium building systems, present in France, Spain, Portugal and the UK. The German company Wicona and Italian brand Domal already constitute Hydro Building Systems. Buildings represent some 40 percent of all energy consumption, and energy efficient buildings can make a big impact. Hydro offers solutions that can achieve zero-energy buildings, even in cold climates.

New Tyin power plant opens. Electricity production increases by 15 percent with no new major impact on the natural environment. The power plant produces 200 GWh more electricity a year than the old plant.

Hydro inaugurates a new aluminium recycling furnace at the Neuss plant in Germany. In 2008 a similar furnace is commissioned in the Hamburg rolling mill. Each of the recycling facilities is capable of swallowing up to 50 000 tonnes of used aluminium scrap annually, recycling the metal for its next application. In 2010 Hydro has an installed recycling capacity of 495 000 tonnes, but actually recycles approximately 260 000 tonnes of post-consumer scrap.

Hydro opens its first energy-neutral building based on aluminium solutions in Bellenberg, Germany. Measurements show that the building produces more energy than it uses.

Hydro's electrolysis process undergoes constant improvement. The company's full-scale test cells in Årdal - which represent a further development of the technology used in Qatalum and Sunndal 4 - use 12.5 kWh per kg of aluminium produced. The average consumption in Hydro is 13.79 kWh per kg.