The Norsk Hydro ASA concern announced plans Friday to build a hydrogen-burning power plant that it says will produce electricity with virtually no climate-damaging emissions.
The 51-percent state-owned company notified the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate of plans to build the plant, to be called HydroKraft, pending approval by government agencies.
The company said if it receives the proper approvals in 1999, construction of the plant would be completed during 2002 and production startup would occur in early 2003.
Earlier this year, the company announced a new technology that would allow it to use clean-burning hydrogen to generate electricity. The hydrogen for the plant would be extracted from natural gas.
Norsk Hydro, a major petroleum producer, now says studies have shown the proposal to be economically viable. It also said the plant's carbon dioxide emissions would be 90 percent lower than plants using natural gas.
Norway is the world's second-largest oil exporter, and also produces vast amounts of natural gas from its offshore fields. Virtually all of the country's electricity now comes from hydroelectric plants.
Under the company's plans, natural gas, air and water would be mixed to produce hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
Norsk Hydro wants to build the plant at Karmoey, an island about 500 kilometers (300 miles) west of Oslo.