250 MW Solar Power Plant in Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka

Audit Analysis

A 250 MW solar avoidance project in India's Pavagada Solar Park with a jurisdictional grid baseline and VVB-confirmed combined additionality test. The project is structurally sound but carries a significant data-reliability concern: the first four-month monitoring period reports roughly 7 times the pro-rata share of the seven-year ex-ante estimate, and the PDD contains incorrect GPS coordinates for all five sub-plants. No buffer pool exists under the CDM framework, and several safeguards details (FPIC, grievance mechanism) are absent from the extracted record.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠The first monitoring period (Sep–Dec 2020, ~4 months) reports 157,936 tCO₂e, which is approximately 7.1× the pro-rata expectation of ~22,253 tCO₂e derived from the PDD's 467,318 tCO₂e seven-year total — a major internal inconsistency that undermines confidence in either the ex-ante estimate or the monitoring data.
• ⚠The PDD lists identical GPS coordinates for all five sub-plants located in different villages, a material error flagged in the verification report and carried into two open corrective actions.
• ⚠The source of data for the grid emission factor parameter (EGPJ,y) was found inconsistent with the actual monitoring procedure due to permanent changes, as noted in the verification report's material findings.
• ⚠No buffer pool or permanence risk mechanism is in place; CDM does not require one, but this leaves no structural backstop against reversal or over-crediting.

Credit Vintages