24 MW Shamburi Mini Hydel Project, Karnataka, India

Audit Analysis

The Shamburi Mini Hydel Project is a straightforward CDM hydro avoidance project with a VVB-confirmed combined additionality test and a jurisdictional baseline, but its integrity is undermined by a corrective action on missing DNA approval letters, seven conditions listed in the 2012 verification report, and a significant discrepancy between two monitoring reports on the lifetime ERR (88,775 vs 197,206 tCO₂e). Transparency is further limited by the absence of a verified ERR figure, an unquantified usage-monitoring method, and a grid emission factor drawn from 2010 data.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Corrective action (CAR 1) in the 2012 verification report: Letters of Approval from the DNA of India had not been obtained at the time of verification.
• ⚠Lifetime ERR discrepancy: the 2016 monitoring report states 197,206 tCO₂e while the 2024 monitoring report states 88,775 tCO₂e — a difference of more than 50% with no documented explanation in the extracted record.
• ⚠Seven conditions listed (CL 1–CL 7) in the 2012 verification report cover missing DPR/hydrology data, unsubstantiated plant-load-factor assumptions, absent EIA evidence, and no evidence of stakeholder meetings.
• ⚠Grid emission factor of 854.7 g CO₂/kWh is sourced from 2010 data; no updated or reassessed baseline value is found in the extracted documents.

Credit Vintages