Advanced Refrigeration CAL - ARS 005B

Audit Analysis

This ACR-registered advanced refrigeration project in Missouri has VVB-confirmed additionality and a recognised methodology, but the verification report identified three material findings—including doubled unit counts and incorrect baseline charge sizes—that raise serious over-crediting concerns. The verified first-year reductions (18,613 tCO₂e) represent only about 46% of the pro-rata expectation derived from the ex-ante lifetime estimate, and the leakage treatment is inconsistently documented across the PDD and validation report.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Verification report (Jan 2021) found unit counts were incorrectly doubled for dual-compressor models, meaning the ex-ante ERR of 401,754 tCO₂e may be materially overstated
• ⚠Baseline default charge sizes were assigned incorrectly for several equipment types, undermining the validity of the project-specific baseline
• ⚠Leakage is stated as 0% with the PDD calling it 'deemed negligible' while the validation report does not address it at all—no quantitative justification is provided in either document
• ⚠Verified first-year reductions of 18,613 tCO₂e are only ~46% of the pro-rata expectation (~40,175 tCO₂e) derived from the 10-year ex-ante estimate, suggesting either over-crediting in the baseline or under-performance

Credit Vintages