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First Solar operates manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Germany with total annual nameplate production capacity of 210MW and is currently constructing two additional manufacturing plants in Malaysia with total annual nameplate production capacity of 240MW. This expansion will bring the Company's total annual nameplate production capacity to 570MW upon completion of all announced projects by the end of 2009. The production from the newly announced plant expansion will be used to meet additional demand from First Solar's existing customers, including Blitzstrom GmbH, Conergy AG, Gehrlicher Umweltschonende Energiesysteme GmbH, Phoenix Solar AG, and Reinecke + Pohl Sun Energy AG, and to meet demand under a new long term contract with ASSYCE Fotovoltaica, a Spanish renewable energy project developer and system integrator focused on large scale, grid connected solar power plants. First Solar recently signed contracts and contract extensions with these customers expanding sales volumes by a total of 625MW, allowing for additional sales of approximately $1.1 billion at an assumed exchange rate of $1.30/EUR 1.00, over the period of 2007 to 2012. These customers are primarily targeting development of solar projects with First Solar modules in Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Greece and Portugal. "Our customers have demonstrated that they are among the best positioned in the industry to develop meaningful project pipelines for large ground and roof-mounted projects across the EU," stated Mike Ahearn, chief executive officer of First Solar, Inc. "We are pleased to build this additional production capacity to support their continued expansion and to strengthen our business relationships with these excellent companies, while further diversifying our European customer base with the recent addition of ASSYCE in Spain." No one has commented on this article.
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