Orkanger
The Norwegian fjord where an arc furnace turns quartz into silicon.
On the shore of a Norwegian fjord, an arc furnace has been making silicon from quartz and coal for decades. Elkem's plant at Thamshavn, in Orkanger, is one of the historic sites of metallurgical silicon. Electricity is plentiful and cheap thanks to the dams, and that is what makes the difference. China now produces most of the world's silicon, but Norway remains one of the West's main suppliers. Silicon leaves here in lumps, still far from a chip.