The public lighting market - Brazil

1.1 Definition and scope of study

The concept of street lighting is relatively recent, dating back to the 19th century, for public safety reasons, coinciding with the increase in urbanisation and crime. The market for public lighting covers all energy-related activities that require the provision of a public lighting service that all municipal authorities must provide in the areas they administer to their citizens - public lighting is defined as all equipment, items and devices (street lamps, bulbs, lighting towers, lighting, etc.) that make up and operate together to provide lighting for public places.

The public lighting market brings together several actors whose goal is to provide lighting for roads and public spaces, both for the comfort and safety of users. Several activities concern this market such as supplying lighting equipment, energy and construction of adequate infrastructure.

The Brazilian street lighting market has undergone profound changes over the decade. Moving from a segment filled by several local companies exclusively concerned with maintaining the public lighting park, to a major transformation in 2014 where Aneel (National Electrical Energy Agency) defined as the responsibility of local authorities the management, maintenance, modernization and consumption of Public Lighting assets in the regions that make up the municipality.

This new law has led many cities to rethink their lighting policies, opening up the market for service delivery models that are more open to private initiative and therefore more competitive. Currently one of the most used models is public-private partnerships (PPP).

With the consequent modernization of the lighting network, the use of LED luminaires has been consolidated, resulting in a reduction in energy consumption between 2013 and 2019 of more than 45% and with an increase in efficiency from 60 lm/W to 140 lm/W, which, for a country with an energy consumption of more than 15,000 GWh for public lighting, is very relevant.