Telemark is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. On 1 January 2024, the county of Telemark was re-established after Vestfold og Telemark was divided again.
Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state owns 34.3% of the company through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. A further 6.5% is owned by Folketrygdfond, which administers the Government Pension Fund of Norway. Norsk Hydro employs approximately 35,000 people. Eivind Kallevik has been the CEO since May, 2024, following Hilde Merete Aasheim.
Rjukan is a town in Tinn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The town is also the administrative centre of Tinn Municipality. The town is located in the Vestfjorddalen valley, between the lakes Møsvatn and Tinnsjå. The municipal council of Tinn declared town status for Rjukan in 1996. The town is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the west of the village of Miland and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the northwest of the village of Tuddal.
The Bratsberg Line is a 74-kilometre long (46 mi) railway line between Eidanger and Notodden in Telemark county, Norway. It opened in 1917, connecting the Tinnos Line, the Sørland Line and the Vestfold Line; allowing Norsk Hydro to transport fertilizer from their plant at Rjukan to the port in Skien. Since 1991 only passenger trains are operated, using Class 69 stock by Vy.
Tinnsjå is one of the largest lakes in Norway measuring about 51.38 km2 (19.84 sq mi). It is also one of the deepest lakes in Europe, reaching a depth of 460 m (1,510 ft). Tinnsjå is located in the municipalities of Tinn and Notodden in Telemark county. At its source in the west, the Måna river flows out of the lake Møsvatn and past the town of Rjukan into Tinnsjå. From the north, the river Mår flows from the lakes Mår, Gøystavatn, and Kalhovdfjorden into Tinnsjå. Tinnsjå is part of the Skien watershed, and it drains via the Tinnelva river in the south, down to the lake Heddalsvatn.
Tinnoset is a village in Notodden Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The village is located at the southernmost end of the large lake Tinnsjå, where the river Tinnelva begins flowing south out of the lake. It is about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of the village of Rudsgrendi, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of the village of Gransherad, and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the west of the village of Bolkesjø.
The Rjukan Line, at first called the Vestfjorddal Line, was a 16-kilometre (10 mi) Norwegian railway line running through Vestfjorddalen between Mæl and Rjukan in Telemark county. The railway's main purpose was to transport chemicals from Norsk Hydro's plant at Rjukan to the port at Skien, in addition to passenger transport. At Mæl the wagons were shipped 30 kilometres (19 mi) on the Tinnsjø railway ferry to Tinnoset where they connected to the Tinnoset Line. The Rjukan Line and the ferries were operated by Norsk Transport, a subsidiary of Norsk Hydro.
Tinnsjø railway ferry was a Norwegian railway ferry service on Lake Tinn that connected the Rjukan Line and Tinnoset Line. The 30-kilometer (19 mi) long ferry trip made it possible for Norsk Hydro to transport its fertilizer from the plant at Rjukan to the port in Skien. The ferry services were operated by the company's subsidiary Norsk Transport from 1909 to 1991, when the plant closed.
SF Hydro was a Norwegian steam powered railway ferry that operated in the first half of the 20th century on Lake Tinn in Telemark. It connected with the Rjukan Line and Tinnoset Line, at Mæl and Tinnoset, operating between 1914 and 1944. The combined track and ferry service was primarily used to transport raw materials and fertilizer from Norsk Hydro's factory at Rjukan to the port in Skien. It was the target of a Norwegian operation on 20 February 1944, when resistance fighters sank the ferry in the deepest part of Lake Tinn to prevent Nazi Germany from receiving heavy water.
Mæl Station is a railroad station located at Tinn in Telemark, Norway. It is the terminus of the Rjukan Line (Rjukanbanen) running through Vestfjorddalen between Mæl and Rjukan. The station is located 16 km from Rjukan and on the mouth of the river Måna in Vestfjorddalen where the river runs into Lake Tinn. This was the point where the railway cars on the line were transferred to the Tinnsjø railway ferry for transport to the Tinnoset Line.
SF Ammonia is a steam-powered railway ferry on Lake Tinn in Telemark, Norway. The ferry was one of the four railway ferries on Lake Tinn that connected the Rjukan Line with the Tinnoset Line. This system was used by Norsk Hydro to transport chemicals from Rjukan to the port in Skien. The ferry is one of four remaining steam-powered railway ferries in the world, and can still be seen docked at Mæl, Norway.
Herøya is a peninsula in Porsgrunn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located between the fjords of Frierfjord to the west and Gunnekleivfjord to the east, at the mouth of Porsgrunn River. The name stems from the Old Norse word "her-eyjar" meaning an island (øya) with a horde or army (her), thus "the crowded island".
MF Storegut is a railway ferry that operated between Tinnoset and Mæl on Lake Tinn, Norway. She was launched on 25 May 1956 and taken out of service after 4 July 1991 when the Tinnsjø railway ferry ceased operations. As of 2008 Storegut is docked at Tinnoset and is used for chartered heritage services. She is named for the poem "Storegut" by Aasmund Olavsson Vinje.
Tinnoset Station is a disused railway station on the Tinnoset Line located at Tinnoset in Notodden, Norway. At the station's docks wagons were transferred from trains to the Tinnsjø railway ferry.
D/F Rjukanfoss, prior to 1946 named Rjukanfos, was steam-powered railway ferry that operated between Mæl and Tinnoset on the Lake Tinn, Norway. Owned by Norsk Transport, she was launched in 1909, expanded in 1946 and decommissioned in 1969.
Notodden New Station served Notodden, Norway from 1919 to 2004, and again from 2015 to 2020. The station was designed by Gudmund Hoel, finished in 1917 and taken into use two years later when the Bratsberg Line opened.
Grønvollfoss Station was a railway station serving Grønvollfoss in Notodden, Norway on the Tinnoset Line from 1909 to the line closed in 1991.
Norsk Hydro Rjukan is an industrial facility operated by Norsk Hydro at Rjukan in Tinn, Norway, from 1911 to 1991. The plant manufactured chemicals related to the production of fertilizer, initially potassium nitrate from arc-produced nitric acid and later ammonia, hydrogen, and heavy water. The location was chosen for its vicinity to hydroelectric power plants built in the Måna river.
Hydro Transport AS was a railway- and shipping company responsible for the transport of chemicals from Norsk Hydro Rjukan. A subsidiary of Norsk Hydro, the company was founded in 1907, operations ceased in 1991, while the company became defunct at the end of 2009.
The Rjukan–Notodden Industrial Heritage Site is a World Heritage Site in Telemark county, Norway, created to protect the industrial landscape around Lake Heddalsvatnet and Vestfjorddalen valley. The landscape is centered on the plant built by the Norsk Hydro company to produce calcium nitrate fertilizer from atmospheric nitrogen using the Birkeland–Eyde process. The complex also includes hydroelectric power plants, railways, transmission lines, factories, and workers' accommodation and social institutions in the towns of Notodden and Rjukan.
