The Dutch consultants commissioned by the Labour Party for its energy proposals do not want to divulge any information on their assignment, the assumptions they based their studies on, how much they were paid, or by whom.

Various questions sent by The Times to DNV Kema remained unanswered, with the consultancy firm citing “confidentiality” for not divulging any details.

Rolf van Stenus – global press officer of DNV Kema – would only confirm that “the firm has indeed worked for the Labour Party”.

However, he said he could not provide any details, citing “customer confidential data”.

Despite requests from the Nationalist Party, Alternattiva Demokratika and the press to publish the technical studies it commissioned for its proposals of a gas-fired power station and an LNG terminal, Labour has refused to make these documents available.

The spokesman would not reply when asked whether it was DNV Kema or the Labour Party that concluded energy tariffs would be slashed by 25 per cent.

The Dutch consultants also failed to answer whether it was possible for Labour’s plan to be implemented in just two years.

A technical report by another global firm, Lahmeyer International, which in 2008 studied a similar proposal to the one proposed by Labour, stated that building an LNG storage and re-gasification terminal at Delimara would take a minimum of four years to complete.