The municipality of São Paulo has published again the tender documents for the public private partnership contract for the modernization, optimization, expansion, operation and maintenance of the city's street lighting infrastructure.

The contract will have a period of 20 years and its estimated value is R$7,3 billion (around US$1.9 billion).

The winner will be the team requesting the lowest monthly payment with a ceiling of R$30.16 million (around US$8.11 million).

The deadline for submission of proposals is January 14th, 2016.

Earlier this month, the Sao Paulo Court gave the green light for the project. The court also established that AES Eletropaulo can not participate in the tender process due to the fact that the firm is supplying electricity to the city and this could give it an advantage over other competitors.

This announcement comes after the municipality of Sao Paulo suspended in June 2015 the tender process for the project. The decision was taken afeter several companies including Abilux - Associação Brasileira da Indústria de Iluminação, F.M. Rodrigues & Cia Ltda., CPFL Eficiência Energética S.A. and GE Iluminação do Brasil Comércio e Lâmpadas Ltda. requested clarification regarding the tender documents.

In late May 2014 we reported that 11 teams submitted proposals to develop feasibility studies for the project. Later in April 2015 the municipality launched the first tender process for the project.

Sao Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the Americas and the world's twelfth largest city by population. The city has a total area of 7,944 km². The metropolis has the largest economy by GDP in Latin America and southern hemisphere.