Aluminium and renewable energy company Hydro has produced aluminium using its new HalZero electrolysis technology. The achievement represents a significant step in the company’s ambition to develop a primary aluminium production process that is emissions free.

Hydro says its technology teams have been working since 2016 to replace the technology used globally today and first patented in 1886. Their new technology converts alumina into aluminium chloride before electrolysis in a process designed to keep chlorine and carbon in closed loops. The effect is to eliminate CO₂ emissions from both electrolysis and anode production, releasing oxygen instead.

Metal was produced from aluminium chloride for the first time at a research and test facility at Herøya in Porsgrunn, Norway. The test facility was built with support from Enova, a state enterprise owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment. In 2023, NOK 141 million was awarded for the construction and operation of the facility, which has been in operation since January 2026.

Says Eivind Kallevik, President and CEO of Hydro, “Producing the first metal demonstrates the technology developed in partnership with leading Norwegian research institutions, including NTNU and SINTEF, works. It paves the way for the continued development, maturation and testing of a technology with the potential to enable emission-free aluminium production in the future.”

Hydro calls HalZero “a long-term technology development program and one of Hydro’s most demanding technology initiatives in decades.” It warns that while producing the first metal represents a major step forward, “several years of targeted testing and piloting remain before the technology could be ready for industrial use.”

The main HalZero processes are being tested at the Porsgrunn facility. At this stage, production still generates CO₂ emissions. The next step will focus on developing an industrial concept pilot, with the ambition of integrating and testing all the necessary process steps together. Enova has granted an additional NOK 82 million for the next phase.

“Aluminium is a critical material for the energy transition and for transport, buildings, and infrastructure. If the world is to succeed in reducing emissions, we must also transform the way aluminium is produced,” says Kallevik. “Developing an entirely new technology is demanding and takes time, but Hydro has both the expertise and a responsibility to help move the aluminium industry forward.”