8 October, 2016
Eight contractors have expressed interest in a private finance project to upgrade street lighting in the Australian Capital Territory, IJ Global has reported.
The winning contractor would upgrade the energy efficiency of 79,000 streetlights in the territory and maintain the service for 10 years under an "energy performance contract", IJ Global said.
The government will pay performance-based payments to the contractor over the ten years of the contract, the report said. The contractor will pay the energy costs of the lighting, but will be protected from changes to the electricity rate.
The project also involves installing a wifi service across the city to allow access to internet-based government services, the news site said.
The eight interested parties are: OrangeTek LED Street Lighting; Gerard Lighting; Silver Spring Networks; Taggle Systems; Electrix; InfraLEDex; Oak Electronics; and Philips.
The request for proposals process closes on 20 October, and the government will shortlist respondents to go forward and provide tenders. A final group will be chosen to carry out detailed studies before a final winner is chosen, IJ Global said.
The contract is due to start in July 2017, it said.
Melbourne-based infrastructure expert Simela Karasavidis of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com
said: "While the private sector has successfully entered into a number of street lighting contracts in Australia with local councils, the delivery of these contracts has been notoriously difficult and painful for street lighting contractors where ownership of the poles and wires rests with anyone other than the procuring authority. The industry is very keen to see how the ACT delivers this project."
For further information, please contact:
David Rennick, Partner, Pinsent Masons
david.rennick@pinsentmasons.com
