By Marion Rae in Canberra

The climate “culture wars” are back as the coalition prepares to go nuclear, but the clean energy industry has been promised an ongoing role.

Renewables will be part of the energy mix under a coalition government but Labor should stop misleading the public about the success of the rollout, opposition spokesman Ted O’Brien told a clean energy summit in Sydney on Wednesday.

Under Labor, emissions reduction has flatlined, investment has stalled, power prices are going up and there is a threat of blackouts as soon as summer, he said.

“Those in industry are saying Labor’s plan of 82 per cent renewables by 2030 is not achievable … it’s disingenuous and not in the national interest to pretend it is,” he told AAP.

Mr O’Brien said the coalition’s energy policy was based on an “all of the above approach” with an energy mix that puts consumers at the centre.

“Once you do that, you find that you do need to ensure that renewables play, continue to play, an important role as part of a balanced energy mix,” he said.

While there is bipartisanship on net zero by 2050, there are stark contrasts in how to get there, with the coalition pledging to build nuclear reactors at a faster pace than even the nation’s top scientists advise could happen.

Asked whether there could be nuclear reactors online by 2037, Tasmania’s Energy Minister Nick Duigan said “not in Tasmania”, while NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said “not possible”.

ACT Energy Minister Shane Rattenbury slammed the return of the climate “culture wars” and nuclear as “too slow, too expensive.”

Clare Savage, chair of the Australian Energy Regulator, told the summit it would be 2050 before any reactors could be built as it would take a decade to change laws and create safety, environmental and investment frameworks, followed by a 15-year build.

She said nuclear can’t help with the replacement of the coal fleet because it wouldn’t be safe or cheap to keep it running for that long, nor could it help with electrification of industry and transport.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen told the summit’s gala dinner on Tuesday that decisions should be made based on the economics and engineering, with nuclear in Australia failing on both fronts.

“It’s always simpler in politics to be running a simple lie, rather than a complicated truth,” he said.

“We’re running a complicated truth … they do not want this transition to succeed.”