Guodian Shanxi Youyu Caojiashan Wind Power Project

Audit Analysis

A CDM wind power project in China with VVB-confirmed additionality and a jurisdictional grid-emission-factor baseline, but undermined by a seven-fold discrepancy between the PDD's and the validation report's lifetime emission-reduction estimates, five material findings requiring corrective action, and the absence of any verified monitoring-period ERR figure. The project's inherent permanence (wind displacing grid electricity) and negligible leakage are strengths, yet the data-quality gaps and unresolved contradictions limit confidence in the credit volume.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Lifetime ERR differs by a factor of ~7 between the PDD (593,460 tCO₂e) and the validation report (84,780 tCO₂e), indicating the original project design substantially over-estimated reductions before VVB review.
• ⚠Five material findings (CAR01–CAR05) in the validation report flag deficiencies in Letters of Approval, emission-factor calculation tool, additionality-alternative definitions, input-value justification, and monitoring-plan QA/QC.
• ⚠No verified monitoring-period ERR figure is available in the extracted record, preventing any pro-rata delivery check against the validated lifetime estimate.
• ⚠The monitoring report (Dec 2012) does not address leakage, while the validation report (Jul 2011) states it is 'deemed negligible' — the later document's silence weakens the justification.

Credit Vintages