Hongyan 8 MW Small-scale Hydro Project

Audit Analysis

The Hongyan 8 MW small-scale hydro project (CDM-1527) uses a standardised methodology (AMS-I.D) with a jurisdictional baseline and an investment additionality test, which are appropriate for the project type. However, the absence of a buffer pool, a leakage justification contradiction between documents, and a low extraction confidence across the record limit confidence in the project's robustness. The identical claimed and verified ERR figures (102,851 tCO₂e) suggest either exact delivery or a lack of independent monitoring verification.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠No buffer pool or permanence risk mitigation mechanism is documented for the hydro project, leaving reversal risk (e.g., drought, dam failure) unaddressed
• ⚠Contradiction in leakage treatment: the validation report states leakage is 'deemed negligible' while an unidentified document references a 'quantified' approach, creating ambiguity about the actual deduction basis
• ⚠Grid emission factor discrepancy between documents (0.497575 in the validation report vs. 0.8959 in an unidentified source) undermines confidence in the baseline calculation
• ⚠Monitoring period is not stated in any available document, making it impossible to verify whether the 102,851 tCO₂e verified figure reflects actual measured output or a restatement of the ex-ante estimate
• ⚠Low extraction confidence across the document set indicates at least one key document was poorly readable, reducing reliability of the extracted data

Credit Vintages