Reviews could derail RET deal

An in-principle deal on a pared-back renewable energy target could be in jeopardy, with federal Labor concerned the package could hurt investment.

The opposition is consulting with the clean energy sector over Friday's agreement with the coalition, under which the RET would be cut from 41,000GWh to 33,000.

The sector's peak body, the Clean Energy Council, won't back the proposal unless two-yearly reviews are scrapped.

The council says the industry has been given repeated assurances the reviews would go.

"The reviews themselves have been the root cause of the crisis in the sector," chief executive Kane Thornton told AAP on Monday.

"We're talking about trying to encourage investment over a 15- to 20-year span and here we are having a review every two years."

The deal was hailed as the catalyst to break a lengthy political impasse, which has halted clean energy investment and cost jobs.

The government has been trying to slash the RET after a review last year found the legislated 41,000GWh could overreach the policy goal of 20 per cent of all energy coming from renewables by 2020.

Labor has been backing the council's position on the target, and opposition environment spokesman Mark Butler says it's unlikely his party would support regular reviews.

"We're concerned about the impact these reviews have on investor certainty," a spokeswoman told AAP.

The opposition also wants to remove what it says is a last-minute inclusion of wood waste as a renewable source.

The government believes it won't need Labor's support for that part of the legislation, confident it can win over backbenchers to get wood waste through.

Mr Thornton said the council could live with the wood waste inclusion but would not budge on the reviews.

He says bipartisanship is vital to encourage clean energy investment and is hopeful the two parties will be able to resolve the outstanding issues.

Both parties will take the deal back to their party rooms for approval.