Hongba Small Hydropower Project in Gansu Province

Audit Analysis

The Hongba Small Hydropower Project is a straightforward grid-connected renewable electricity project under CDM with a confirmed investment-test additionality assessment by Applus+ LGAI. However, the project carries a notable burden of ten material findings and six corrective actions, and the available documents contain four contradictions — including a fundamental disagreement on whether the baseline is project-specific or jurisdictional — that undermine confidence in the credit quantity. The absence of a buffer pool, verified ERR figures, and any permanence or safeguards detail leaves meaningful gaps in the evidence base.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Baseline method is stated as 'project' in the 2013 monitoring report but 'jurisdictional' in the 2010 PDD — a fundamental disagreement on the credit-quantity foundation
• ⚠Ten material findings (six corrective actions, four comments) were raised by the VVB, including the need to revise the crediting-period start date, recalculate the carbon model with newer data, and justify that the project is not a debundled activity
• ⚠Leakage justification is contradictory: the 2010 validation report calls it 'deemed negligible' while the 2013 monitoring report calls it 'quantified', yet both arrive at a 0% deduction with no visible quantification in the extracted record
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage, no reversal-event history, and no permanence mechanism are stated in any available document, leaving the permanence risk for a dam-based project unaddressed

Credit Vintages