Investment in renewable energy – a key driver of infrastructure in recent years – will slow after this week's abandoning of the National Energy Guarantee and further curb engineering construction work, BIS Oxford Economics says.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's indefinite postponement of plans to legislate emissions reductions targets meant the decline in electricity investment from this year's likely peak of $12.4 billion could be steeper than the predicted fall to $8.2 billion by FY2023, said BIS head of infrastructure and Mining, Adrian Hart.