Nepal Biogas Support Program - CPA 7: 18,392 digesters

Audit Analysis

A large-scale Nepal biogas program (18,392 digesters) with VVB-confirmed additionality and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but undermined by an extensive list of material findings and corrective actions spanning formula errors, missing spreadsheets, and QA/QC gaps. Multiple contradictions between the 2025 and 2026 verification reports (ERR figures, FNRB units, method) raise data-reliability concerns. The absence of a stated buffer pool, reversal-event history, and CORSIA/CCP status leaves key permanence and double-claiming questions open.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠30+ material findings and 30+ corrective actions across the verification record, including formula discrepancies in the ER sheet, missing QA/QC procedures, and a database of digesters not initially submitted — indicating systemic monitoring quality issues
• ⚠FNRB value reported as 86.1 (local field, 2026 VR) versus 0.86 (national default, 2025 VR) — a unit inconsistency (kg/kg vs t/t) that, if unresolved, could inflate or deflate emissions by a factor of 100
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage or reversal-event history found in any available document, leaving permanence risk for 18,392 digesters unquantified
• ⚠Verified ERR of 381,686 tCO2e for a single monitoring year is roughly 4.2× the pro-rata expectation derived from the 455,721 tCO2e lifetime ex-ante estimate over a 5-year crediting period, suggesting either a very conservative ex-ante baseline or a scope mismatch between the two figures

Credit Vintages