Critical legislation that would enable mega gas projects like Santos’s Barossa and Japan Inc’s Inpex to transport captured carbon across international maritime borders could be at risk of collapsing after the Coalition demanded a Senate inquiry into Chris Bowen’s power transmission rollout.

Labor already has verbal agreement from Liberal and National Party senators that they will back the controversial so-called “sea dumping bill”, which has enraged critics led by the Greens, who say it will unlock tens of billions of dollars in new gas projects.