Durban Landfill-gas-to-electricity project – Mariannhill and La Mercy Landfills

Audit Analysis

A CDM landfill-gas-to-electricity project in South Africa with VVB-confirmed additionality and a jurisdictional baseline, but undermined by a 0% leakage deduction that the monitoring report describes as 'not addressed,' the absence of a buffer pool, and 14 material findings in the verification report. The project delivered roughly 70% of its pro-rata ex-ante expectation for the monitoring period, which is conservative, yet key verification data (verified ERR, FNRB, usage monitoring method) are missing from the extracted record.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Leakage deduction of 0% with the monitoring report (2019) stating leakage was 'not addressed,' contradicting the validation report's (2014) 'deemed negligible' position — no quantified justification exists in the later document
• ⚠14 material findings in the verification report, including missing fixed parameters, inconsistent MCF value, incomplete baseline and project emission explanations, and missing calibration frequency provisions
• ⚠Verified ERR figure is not present in the extracted record, preventing independent confirmation of the 78,838 tCO2e claimed for the monitoring period

Credit Vintages