First Solar to build thin-film plant in Vietnam: plans to double capacity by 2012 (FSLR)

From PV-Tech:

As part of new plans to double its manufacturing capacity to over 2.7GW by 2012, CdTe thin-film leader, First Solar is to build new facilities in Vietnam and the U.S. two new four-line manufacturing plants are expected to add 500MW of capacity and be completed in 2012. Currently, First Solar is capacity constraint but is building further new lines in Malaysia and France in particular. The Vietnam plant is their first in that country and follows semiconductor leader Intel Corp in locating production in the country.

"These expansions provide proximity to growing U.S. demand while supporting our roadmap to drive down the cost of clean, sustainable solar electricity," said First Solar CEO Rob Gillette. "Effective government policies provide long-term visibility and enable sustainable markets."

First Solar said that each plant would create approximately 600 jobs and noted that with its utility-scale project pipeline in the U.S., a further 1,000 construction jobs would be created during the schedule of these projects.

As with previous new factory announcements, First Solar said that negotiations and site assessments are ongoing in both countries. The company would announce site locations at a later date.