GS1247 VPA 21 Improved Kitchen Regimes: Gatsibo District Borehole Project, Rwanda

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard borehole project under a kitchen-regimes VPA in Rwanda has a VVB-confirmed additionality assessment and no reported reversals, but is undermined by a high volume of contradictions across key parameters (leakage, fNRB, usage rate, crediting period), a 0% leakage deduction applied in monitoring despite a 5% figure in the PDD, and the absence of a buffer pool. The project's fit within a thermal-energy-displacement methodology raises scope questions, and five open findings from the latest verification cycle indicate unresolved documentation gaps.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Leakage deduction of 0% applied in the 2021 monitoring report while the 2023 PDD specifies a 5% deduction — the more conservative design value was not applied in verification
• ⚠fNRB value of 0.98 used in the 2021 monitoring report versus 0.85 in the 2023 PDD, meaning the less conservative (higher) value was applied, inflating claimed reductions
• ⚠A borehole (water supply) project is registered under a methodology for displacing decentralised thermal energy consumption, raising questions about methodological fit and potential over-crediting
• ⚠Five open findings (FAR 01–05) from the latest verification remain unresolved, including missing VPA-level SDG indicator evaluation and fNRB reporting

Credit Vintages