A technical study on the best route for a gas pipeline between Malta and Sicily has been commissioned.

The General Contracts Committee announced yesterday that a €478,000 deal had been signed between the government and the Belgian firm Tractabel Engineering.

The company, which specialises in energy production consultancy, will have about 18 months to come up with the best route for the 150-kilometre-long pipeline connecting Malta to Gela.

The study will include conceptual designs of the pipeline and land-based infrastructure.

Connection points, on-shore routes and sites for the terminal stations in both Gela and Delimara will also be included.

The new gas-fired power station at Marsaxlokk will initially depend entirely on gas supplied from a tanker. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has long said a floating storage system was not the only solution the government would explore.

18 months to come up with the best route for the 150-kilometre-long pipeline connecting Malta to Sicily

“The good thing about this system is that we can change it easily once we decide to move to the next phase of supply. The ship can simply sail away once it isn’t needed,” he had said.

Earlier this year, Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi said the study would have to identify the main requirements for pipeline permits in both Malta and Italy and initiate the pre-application permitting process in the two countries.

Back in 2013, the EU listed the gas pipeline as one of 250 energy projects which could benefit from €5.85 billion in funding.

In July, the government announced it had also ob-tained about €400,000 in EU funds to finance the preliminary study.

Gela already has a pipeline connecting it to Libya.

Questions sent to Trac-tabel, the Belgian firm, yesterday remained unanswered at the time of writing.