JS Solar eyes more than 300MW solar projects in Sabah after ACE Market debut

Thursday 08 Oct 2026

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KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 23): New ACE Market entrant JS Solar Holding Bhd (KL:JSSOLAR) is targeting more than 300MW of potential solar projects in Sabah as it seeks a larger share of Malaysia’s solar engineering market.

Managing director Johnson Chai Jeun Sian said on Tuesday the company is eyeing engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) jobs through Energy Commission of Sabah (ECOS) programmes such as self-consumption for solar photovoltaic (Selco-PV) Sabah and large-scale solar (LSS)-Sabah 2024.

He added that the push is part of a broader strategy to deepen its capabilities in battery energy storage systems (BESS).

The company has been scouting for an 800-1,000 sq ft site in Kota Kinabalu for a sales and support office, targeted to open in the fourth quarter of 2025.

“Of course, with the [initial public offering (IPO)] proceeds, we plan for the upgrade as we want to expedite our plan for JS Solar.

"That is our hope to penetrate and to get more market share,” Chai told reporters during a press conference after its successful listing on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia.

The EPCC company currently commands 4.5% of Malaysia’s total installed solar photovoltaic capacity (2,306MW in 2024) and 14.3% of the total value of EPCC services (RM728 million in 2024), according to an independent industry report.

Moving forward, Chai noted that "the solar industry is still upbeat", further supported by a slew of government initiatives. The Malaysian government has plans to lift renewable energy’s contribution to the national power mix to 70% by 2050, underpinned by initiatives such as the Large-Scale Solar 5+ (LSS5+), LSS-Sabah, and the Solar Accelerated Transition Action Programme (Solar ATAP).

These policies are expected to drive demand for solar EPCC services and accelerate adoption of BESS, a technology critical for grid stability as intermittent renewable sources expand.

This further prompted JS Solar to integrate BESS into future offerings, according to the company. Its past experience includes being a main contractor for a 1MWac/2MWh BESS project in Kulim Hi-Tech Park, Kedah, undertaken with Huawei and N.U.R Distribution Sdn Bhd.

While GSPARX Sdn Bhd, a Tenaga Nasional Bhd (KL:TENAGA) subsidiary, remains its largest client, accounting for up to 30.7% of revenue and nearly half of the outstanding order book, Chai said the company "aims to diversify its customer base by bidding for more rooftop tenders and hiring additional sales staff".

TA Securities acted as principal adviser, sponsor, underwriter and placement agent for the IPO, while Eco Asia Capital Advisory served as financial adviser.

JS Solar shares opened at 40 sen — 29% above the IPO price of 31 sen. The stock climbed as high as 42 sen shortly after the opening bell before easing to 40.5 sen at 10.26am, after 49.48 million shares were traded, for a market capitalisation of RM131.63 million.

Edited ByIsabelle Francis

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