Braço Norte IV Small Hydro Plant

Audit Analysis

The Braço Norte IV small hydro project is a CDM-registered renewable energy project with a verified investment-test additionality assessment by TÜV NORD CERT, but it carries a heavy burden of material findings (16 total, including 7 corrective actions) covering calculation errors, unclear emission-factor methodology, and stakeholder-consultation deficiencies. The absence of a buffer pool, inconsistent leakage treatment, and contradictory grid emission-factor values across documents introduce meaningful over-crediting and data-reliability risk. Overall the project is functional but sits in the lower-middle quality band.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Grid emission factor contradicts itself across monitoring reports: 0.5364 tCO₂/MWh (Jan 2013 report) vs 0.389 tCO₂/MWh (undated report) — a 38 % swing that directly affects credit quantities.
• ⚠Seven corrective actions (CARs) were required, including an incorrect crediting-period start date, miscalculated months in first/last year, and inapplicable Step-0 additionality discussion, indicating material errors in the PDD.
• ⚠No buffer pool is recorded and leakage is listed as 0 % with the justification marked 'not addressed' in the 2013 monitoring report, despite the validation report claiming it was 'quantified' — an unresolved inconsistency.
• ⚠Stakeholder consultation was deficient: local communities, NGOs, and the Public Attorney were not initially invited (CAR 7), and no grievance mechanism or FPIC is documented.
• ⚠Multiple non-material findings (NIRs) flag that the emission-factor calculation was unclear in the PDD and that meter calibration procedures were missing from the monitoring plan.

Credit Vintages