GS11677 GS11902 Malawi Biomass Energy Conservation Programme CPA 18

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard biomass cookstove project in Malawi with VVB-confirmed additionality and no reported reversal events, but undermined by a project-specific baseline, absence of a stated buffer pool, and eight data contradictions across documents—including a tenfold discrepancy in claimed ERR figures and a 15-year gap in crediting period dates. The conservative usage-rate assumption and quantified 5% leakage deduction are positive, yet the overall data reliability is weakened by medium extraction confidence and multiple administrative corrective actions.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Claimed ERR of 1,534,828 (verification report) contradicts an appendix figure of 131,641—a tenfold gap that cannot be reconciled without clarification of the reporting basis
• ⚠Crediting period stated as 2016–2025 in the monitoring report but 2021–2036 in the validation report, a 15-year discrepancy that affects the pro-rata ERR expectation
• ⚠Verification report is dated 2023-08-23 yet the monitoring period listed is 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31, a temporal inconsistency that raises questions about which period was actually verified

Credit Vintages