Fray Bentos Biomass Power Generation Project

Audit Analysis

The Fray Bentos biomass power project in Uruguay is a CDM avoidance project with VVB-confirmed additionality (barrier test by DNV) and a conservative grid emission factor of 0.259 tCO₂/MWh. However, five cross-document contradictions—including a 2.8× discrepancy in the grid emission factor and a 5.4× gap in claimed ERR figures—undermine data reliability, and the absence of verified ERR, FNRB, and FPIC data leaves material evidence gaps. The project's avoidance nature limits permanence risk, but the overall documentation record is thin and dated to 2008.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Grid emission factor differs by a factor of 2.8 between the PDD (0.259) and the monitoring report (0.73), raising questions about which baseline value was actually applied in credit calculations
• ⚠No verified ERR figure was found in any available document, making it impossible to confirm whether the project delivered the claimed 317,091 tCO₂ over its crediting period
• ⚠Baseline method is described as 'jurisdictional' in the monitoring report but 'project-specific' in the validation report, creating ambiguity about the baseline's robustness
• ⚠The monitoring report is dated 2008-04-12, which precedes the stated monitoring period start of 2008-05-08, suggesting a possible extraction or dating error that undermines confidence in the MRV record

Credit Vintages