Labor says its starting point for talks with the Abbott government on renewable energy is a precise generation target not a percentage.
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has written to opposition climate spokesman Mark Butler inviting him to negotiate on the future of the RET.
Mr Butler has agreed to hear what the minister has to say but has spelled out Labor's bottom line.
Both parties went to the 2013 federal election promising to retain the target of 20 per cent of energy produced by renewable means by 2020.
The coalition says this percentage figure represents 26,000 gigawatt hours of generation.
But Labor insists the bipartisan commitment, which has been legislated, is for 41,000 gigawatt hours.
The idea of a precise generation target, rather than a floating percentage, has been a central part of renewable energy policy going back to the Howard government's first target and its review, Mr Butler said.
"So I think Ian Macfarlane's got a hard argument to put to move from a precise target to a floating percentage," he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
Mr Macfarlane says achieving the generation target would come at a substantial cost to the community.
A government-initiated review by businessman Dick Warburton suggested the small-scale RET be abolished immediately or phased out in 2020 instead of 2030.
The large-scale scheme should either be closed to new entrants, or new entrants be allowed only as demand for electricity rose.
Mr Butler said Labor would not be supporting any of the review's recommendations because they were not supported by any evidence.
"We've also heard pretty clearly that their implementation would devastate investment in the sector, he said.
In his letter to the minister, Mr Butler says the government's rejection of the Warburton findings would "clear a pathway" to a bipartisan agreement.
Labor is also understood to have asked that the talks include the treasurer and shadow treasurer, the environment minister and the opposition resources spokesman.
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