Norsk Hydro: Hydro to upgrade water treatment system at Alunorte

Hydro decided on Friday, March 16, to initiate a NOK 500 million investment to
the water treatment system of the Alunorte alumina refinery in Barcarena,
Brazil, increasing capacity by 50 percent and improving the robustness of the
plant to withstand future extreme weather conditions.

"Recent events show that further strengthening of Alunorte's water treatment
system is necessary to ensure the plant's future environmental robustness," says
President and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg.

Following a period of extreme rainfall in mid-February in the Barcarena region,
authorities ordered several measures against Alunorte over concerns that
flooding had led to harmful spills into surrounding areas, including the nearby
Pará river. Among these measures, Alunorte has been ordered to reduce production
by 50 percent and suspend the commissioning of its new press filter and DRS2
bauxite residue disposal.

"We are now in constructive dialog with relevant authorities concerning these
matters, but also acknowledge that the pressure on Alunorte's water treatment
system most likely will increase in the years ahead because of a trend of more
extreme weather. That is why we take this immediate step to bring Alunorte up to
a new environmental standard," Brandtzæg says.

The ambition is to finalize the planned upgrade within first quarter 2019.

Hydro's lessons learned
"Among many issues that have emerged for us these past weeks, Hydro acknowledges
that people in Barcarena are genuinely concerned about water contamination. The
local communities have not received the information they deserve, and they have
not found us trustworthy. For that, I apologize," Brandtzæg says.

"We accept that to build trust, we will have to make changes in our own
attitudes, in our actions, and in our ways of working with the local
communities," he says.

So far, no spills or leakages have been detected from Alunorte's bauxite residue
deposits after the extreme rain event in February.

As a precautionary measure to alleviate pressure on the water treatment plant,
Alunorte discharged rainwater from within the refinery through the Canal Velho.
Due to a power failure on February 17, a release of diluted caustic soda from
within the plant was mixed with rain water from the factory area before entering
a water holding pond, with overflow into Canal Velho. Alunorte had applied for a
license to use Canal Velho in extraordinary circumstances. However, at the time
of the discharges, the plant did not have a license for such an activity, and
has notified authorities about the discharges.

Comprehensive reviews
Hydro has commissioned Brazilian environmental consultancy SGW Services to
conduct a fully independent review, in addition to a review by an internal
expert task force. Both are expected to report their conclusions and
recommendations on April 9.

"Regardless of the conclusions from the reviews, we are already committed to
working with authorities, neighboring communities and local partners, investing
in proper water supply," says Brandtzæg.

Hydro is South America's biggest aluminium company after acquiring Brazilian
mining company Vale's aluminium assets in the northern state of Pará in 2011.
Alunorte is the world's largest alumina refinery, employs around 2,000 people
and has a nameplate capacity of an annual 6.3 million tonnes. Hydro owns 92.1
percent of Alunorte.



Investor contacts
Stian Hasle
+47 97736022
Stian.Hasle@hydro.com

Press contact
Halvor Molland
+47 92979797
Halvor.Molland@hydro.com


Cautionary note
Certain statements included in this announcement contain forward-looking
information, including, without limitation, information relating to (a)
forecasts, projections and estimates, (b) statements of Hydro management
concerning plans, objectives and strategies, such as planned expansions,
investments, divestments, curtailments or other projects, (c) targeted
production volumes and costs, capacities or rates, start-up costs, cost
reductions and profit objectives, (d) various expectations about future
developments in Hydro's markets, particularly prices, supply and demand and
competition, (e) results of operations, (f) margins, (g) growth rates, (h) risk
management, and (i) qualified statements such as "expected", "scheduled",
"targeted", "planned", "proposed", "intended" or similar.



Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are reasonable, these forward-looking statements are based on a
number of assumptions and forecasts that, by their nature, involve risk and
uncertainty. Various factors could cause our actual results to differ materially
from those projected in a forward-looking statement or affect the extent to
which a particular projection is realized. Factors that could cause these
differences include, but are not limited to: our continued ability to reposition
and restructure our upstream and downstream businesses; changes in availability
and cost of energy and raw materials; global supply and demand for aluminium and
aluminium products; world economic growth, including rates of inflation and
industrial production; changes in the relative value of currencies and the value
of commodity contracts; trends in Hydro's key markets and competition; and
legislative, regulatory and political factors.



No assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been
correct.  Hydro disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.



This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section
5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.