Hangudi 5 MW Hydropower Project in Yunnan province

Audit Analysis

The Hangudi 5 MW hydropower project is a straightforward CDM renewable-energy generation project with a jurisdictional baseline and a reasonable 0% leakage assumption for its sector. However, the extracted record contains four material contradictions between the validation report, the PDD, and an undated appendix — most critically a seven-fold discrepancy in the claimed emission reduction (12,058 vs 84,409 tCO₂e) and a 65% gap in the grid emission factor (0.5571 vs 0.9183) — which significantly undermines confidence in the project's quantitative claims. Additionality evidence is absent from the extracted data, and two minor material findings with corrective actions were noted by the VVB.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Seven-fold discrepancy in total emission reduction: the PDD (July 2015) claims 84,409 tCO₂e while the validation report (August 2015) and the verified figure both state 12,058 tCO₂e — a 7× over-claim by the project developer that was corrected by the VVB.
• ⚠Grid emission factor contradiction: the validation report uses 0.5571 tCO₂/kWh (2014) while an undated appendix cites 0.9183 tCO₂/kWh, a 65% difference that would materially alter the credit volume.
• ⚠Additionality test type and VVB confirmation are not stated in any extracted document, leaving a critical CDM requirement unverified in the available record.
• ⚠Leakage treatment is inconsistent: the validation report deems leakage negligible (0% deduction) while the appendix describes it as 'quantified,' creating ambiguity about whether a quantitative assessment was actually performed.

Credit Vintages