The Sao Paulo Court, Brazil, has given the green light for the street lighting public private partnership (PPP) project.

The court has 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. After the court's approval the tender process is expected to be relaunched soon. 

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.

The preferred bidder would have to modernize, streamline, expand and maintain the street lighting infrastructure of the city. The contract had a value estimated at R$7.3 billion (US$2.5 billion).

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 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.